Memories
by doppeldonger
Summary: Mr Michael Schmidt is an elderly man who starts working as the night guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, he's about to discover the past of the naughty animatronics and he's determined to teach them some manners in the meantime!
1. Welcome!

Trembling hands emerged from darkness, hurriedly grasping the doorknob. Much to their owner's dismay, however, the door was locked, so they traveled into the depths of the pockets of a pair of well-ironed trousers. A tiny yet victorious jingle was heard in the silent night, keys! The journey of the poor, trembling hands was mercifully cut short when the door was opened from inside. One lean, dark haired man stood in the doorway, eyeing the intruder with curiosity.

"Hey gramps!" he called, looking down at the elderly man with a grin on his face, "The place's closed hours ago, you're gonna have to take your grandchildren back home."

Now, Mr Michael Schmidt could approach the youngsters with understanding and care, but getting called "gramps" was a different matter.

"Excuse me, young man, but that is not a nice way to talk to a coworker now, is it." he asked, putting his hands on his hips. The younger man was clearly surprised, "No way..." he whispered.

"Well, Mister..."

"Fitzgerald... Jeremy Fitzgerald."

"Well, Mr Fitzgerald, considering we wear identical uniforms with our name tags on them, I'd say I'm telling the truth here." That was indeed the case, though Mr Schmidt's pants weren't as crumpled as Mr Fitzgerald's, nor was his purple shirt covered with pizza stains like the younger man's. He proudly dusted off some nonexistent dust off his shirt, he did look dashing in purple, if he said so himself.

Unlike Mr Schmidt, Mr Fitzgerald looked like he was about to snap, "Yo gramps, are you even aware of what you got yourself into here?" He pointed an angry finger towards the happy little band of cute animatronics. "Believe me when I say this -'cause I worked the night shift here before- these freaks are too much for you!"

"Ohohoho!" Mr Schmidt let out a hearty chuckle and waggled his finger, "I believe you underestimate me here, Mr Fitzgerald." He paused a moment to ponder, "And why, if you don't mind me asking, are you here if you **used** to work the night shift?"

"Got moved to the day shift, was about to leave..." the younger of the two replied with a sour expression, "Look, you really should leave; I don't think your heart could handle what's going on around here, I-" he was interrupted by the new night guard, who was checking his watch: "It's past 11 pm, Mr Fitzgerald, I believe your shift has ended some time ago." Mr Schmidt shooed the younger man out of the door before he could utter a word, closed the door gently and locked it. His attention now diverted from the youngster to the animatronics, he sighed contently and walked towards them.

"I remember the times when this place was called Fredbear's Diner," he said with a chuckle, "My kids loved coming here!" He looked around, the ghost of a smile still lingering on his lips, "And now here I am, for my beloved grandchild! She's a lovely girl, you see, very smart; just started college, in fact!" Even his old, tiny voice showed how proud he was of her, "I used to take her here, she loved this place... You were her favorite, Bonnie," he said, looking up at the huge violet bunny, "And you, Chica, she never stopped talking about how delicious your cupcakes were whenever I took her here!" He checked his watch again, seeing it was nearing midnight already, "Oh gosh, I'd better head down to the security office. I'll be sure to check you all soon, though, I should patrol as the security guard after all!"

Not long after the old man's shaky, short legs carried him to the security office, the clock stuck midnight and the animatronics gained control of their metallic bodies. "Wow," a bored voice called out, "What a boring old man..."


	2. The Lone Guitarist

Mr Schmidt made himself comfortable in the cramped office, looking at the _Celebrate!_ poster and the children's drawings on the wall. He wondered, with a tiny smile, if any of Grace's drawings were around as well.

He was about to check the tablet on the dusty table when the phone rang; he jumped slightly, chuckled and reached for the phone, but the voice that appeared to belong to a recording of a young and polite man filled the security room.

"Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact." Mr Schmidt looked at the phone thoughtfully, so that naughty little Mr Fitzgerald wasn't the night guard before him, then. He wondered what made the young man so aggressive.

"So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?" Mr Schmidt eagerly nodded, well aware that the voice on the phone couldn't see him, he chuckled again.

"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um... Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced." The night guard raised an eyebrow, was that even legal?

"Blah blah blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay." Mr Schmidt thought he couldn't agree more as he fiddled with the tablet.

"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh... Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was The Bite of '87. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"

Now that drew Mr Schmidt's attention, he sighed sadly. He remembered the bite; he wasn't there himself when it happened, nor were his kids -thankfully!-, but he remembered how it was all over local news for weeks. He personally loved the golden duo, Fredbear and Barneybunny. Thinking about the obvious Flintstones reference, he smiled; those two were really fun.

Then, of course, the bite had happened, it wasn't Fredbear's fault, nor was it the poor boy's, whose head was nearly crushed by the robotic bear's. The event, followed by the horrible murders committed by someone who was wearing poor Barney as their costume gave the owner the chance to 'retire' the golden animatronics and leave the spotlight to the newer ones.

The ones he was going to babysit from now on. "Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to... forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh."

Mr Schmidt snorted, now that was nonsense. The animatronics possessed AIs that were capable of learning, they'd never think someone was an endoskeleton!

"Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."

"Goodnight." the night guard answered, giving the phone a tiny wave. He turned to check the tablet again, so this must be how he was going to check the cameras. He turned it on and idly scrolled through cams, briefly stopping to check Pirate's Cove, when did Foxy go out of order? He sighed as he easily got used to using the tablet -he might be old, but he wasn't that old, thank you very much-, the overly excited pirate never ceased to bring a smile to children's faces.

He returned to Dining Area, noticing Bonnie had left; he bet the bunny was on his way to the security office, so instead of going out to meet him, Mr Schmidt waited for the animatronic to come to him.

He remembered the time the four animatronics met their audience. Bonnie was supposed to introduce himself as Barney, as he was the descendant of Barneybunny, so to speak, but having a Boston accent, it sounded more like "Bonnie" than "Barney". Oh how the little ones laughed, saying he was a boy with a girl's name! The poor thing had tried to say his name wasn't Bonnie to no avail, then had simply given up.

Mr Schmidt was rudely taken back to here and now when he heard loud footsteps from his left. Turning to the source of the noise, he saw two buttons at arm reach. He pushed the one that said "light", suddenly illuminating the violet bunny. The animatronic froze mid-step, his upper body already in the room and a mean grin on his face.

"Oh hello, Bonnie!" the night guard smiled, waving at him, "Did you come here to say hello?"

Bonnie screeched.

After holding his chest in a surprised and offended manner for a few seconds, Mr Schmidt took a step towards the hostile bunny.

"Bonnie! How rude!" he said disapprovingly, even waggling a finger near the bunny's angry red eyes. "Get out this instant!" He pushed the surprised bunny out of his office, "And don't come back until you've thought about what you did. You should be ashamed, young rabbit!"

Bonnie was so surprised that he didn't even flinch when the metal door slid down with a loud thunk!. He turned and made his way to the Dining Area.

Foxy peaked through his curtains as Bonnie rumbled past him, "What in the blazes was that, lad?!" he hissed, clearly surprised and disappointed. Freddy stopped glaring at the camera for a second to look at the two without moving a gear, his azure eyes showed he shared the pirate fox's feelings.

"Ah don' know, man!" Bonnie said, throwing his arms in the air exasperatedly, "Ah get in da office ta get that human and he freakin' lectahs me!" He looked frustrated enough to tear off his own whiskers.

Chica tsked from the other side of the room, "You're no good, Bonbon, I'll go show you how it's done." She let out a hearty laugh at the bunny's angry expression and quietly made her way to the security office- well, as quietly as a huge robotic chicken can, at least.


	3. The Lost Cupcake

Looking at the huge metal door, Mr Schmidt put his hands on his hips, disbelief at Bonnie evident in his eyes. He turned to check the cams, were all the youngsters of the pizzeria this impolite?

He then noticed two things. One was the fact that the closed door was making him use his limited power more- he turned and opened it. The other was that Bonnie was angrily talking to Foxy; Mr Schmidt gasped with a smile on his face, so he _was_ around! Oh how torn and old he looked! He wondered if he could do anything to fix him a little as he settled on his chair and scrolled through the cameras.

It was nearing 4 am and Mr Schmidt had started snoozing at about 3:30, boredom can make an old man do shameful things like that. He was, of course, unaware of the robot chicken after him.

He was woken up rather rudely at 3:49 when he heard a loud _clang_!. Worried that there was an intruder, he quickly grabbed his flashlight and shone it at the East Hall, only to see a huge, angry Chica tumble out of the kitchen. Their eyes met.

Chica put the creepiest expression she could muster on her face and strolled down the corridor menacingly. This tiny man got Bonnie out of the office easily? She snorted. She was about to take one last step and grab the guard's neck when he spoke with a calm and kind voice, "Could you be looking for your cupcake by any chance, Miss Chica?" That stopped the chick in her tracks, how did he know she lost it?! She growled, eyes narrowing into angry slits. Mr Schmidt gestured for her to get in the office before he disappeared from the doorway, "Come in, come in! It's here!" Chica's eyes widened, _what?_

She found the guard holding none other than her beloved cupcake when she got in, she quickly snatched it from the elderly man's hands with another growl.

"I know you always carry it around with you, but I didn't see it with you when I came in tonight." Mr Schmidt chuckled, "Then I found the little critter here! It would be mean to make you two stay separated." Much to Chica's surprise, he sat in his chair and smiled up at the animatronic, nostalgia flooding his eyes.

"I uh... I'm supposed to kill you now..." Chica said, scratching the back of her head. Mr Schmidt noted how humane the gesture was, their AIs _did_ pick up anything they saw. He cleared his throat, not afraid at all.

"Now, young lady, I'm an old man as you can see, so I've come over my fear of death some time ago... However, I'm curious as to why you want to kill me..." He tipped his hat back, "Is it related to the murdered children, by any chance?"

Chica let out a screech. Unlike Bonnie's angry and wild one, however, hers sounded more like an agonized wail. Mr Schmidt quickly got up, hands in the air to show he meant no harm. "Okay, it's okay!" He took a step towards Chica, who -surprisingly- took a step back. He stopped. "They never found the murderer, did they?" he asked, his trembling voice not louder than a whisper. "Well, it makes sense that you folks want to kill any guard who comes here... It must be horrible to live with the fact that you couldn't help those poor souls-"

"WE TRIED!" Chica yelled, surprising the guard. She held onto her cupcake. "We tried, but he- _you_ broke us into pieces! After stuffing all those poor kids' bodies into our suits! How more disrespectful could you get?! Defiling them like that!"

Mr Schmidt stood stock still, his mouth agape and his eyes wide. A lone tear made its way across his face as he clutched at his chest. "Poor little children..." he whispered, "I didn't know they had to suffer so much, you folks too..." Chica was taken aback, noticing the genuine sadness the guard showed. "I wasn't there when the murders happened, nor were my kids; but I have two children and a grandchild, I know how dear they are to their guardians, be it parents or... you four..." He walked towards the chick and gently hugged her; she didn't move this time, she was too surprised to do anything.

Mr Schmidt moved back quickly, not wanting to unnerve Chica more, "Then the other pizzeria with the Toys happened?" She nodded sadly. "My children never liked them the way they liked you four," the guard said, "They had grown up by the time this pizzeria opened, but then I had my little Grace to take here." his face lightened up as he took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through photos. Finding the one he wanted to show Chica, he held up the phone so that she could see his granddaughter. "I know you have a lot of children around here, but maybe you remember her? She lov-"

"Loved Bonnie and me, yeah. I heard you when you talked to us." Chica looked at the guard with sadness and strained anger in her eyes. "This doesn't mean you're telling the truth." she added with a low growl. She turned around and got out of the door, Mr Schmidt turned on the door lights to see her looking at him from the window.

"Consider yourself spared, for tonight. Just because you retrieved my cupcake." she said menacingly, "The others will be after you, though. You still have an hour to go, after all."

Nobody else paid him a visit that night.

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 **(AN: Hello everyone, I'm happy to see you're liking this story so far! Also, this chapter turned out a bit dark rather than humorous, whoops!)**


	4. A Broken Fox Fixed

Mr Jeremy Fitzgerald was a rather gruff man with a heart filled with love for children and animals. He worked at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria from 6:30 am to 11:00 pm, then went to work at his other job as a veterinary assistant from 12:00 am to 4:00 am. It was surprising how the adult body could withstand two hours of sleep for the sake of earning enough to support one's family by working at jobs one enjoyed. Of course, that meant he'd have little to no time to see his wife Claire and his daughter Felicity, but that was an issue that was fixed long ago; the two women of his life would join him at the pizzeria during the day, making it easier for them to spend time together and have fun.

And thus, Mrs Fitzgerald was surprised to see her husband grumble as he angrily put on his uniform -which was devoid of all the dirt from the day before thanks to her-, she could make out words like "that silly old man" and "gonna have a heart attack". She raised a curious eyebrow at her husband, who simply said that the new night guard was "this man that was old enough to be a mummy". She chuckled, "Dear god, Jeremy, that's not a nice thing to say! He clearly needs the job, otherwise he wouldn't be there in the first place." She bid him goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and a "Be nice.", he was still grumbling as he got into his car and took off.

Mr Fitzgerald had long ceased mumbling angrily when he arrived at the pizzeria, but an unhappy frown still lingered on his face as he unlocked the front door. If he got his hands on that tiny old man! _If those freaks haven't already, that is_ , he thought with a shudder.

Considering he was sure he'd meet Mr Schmidt's corpse somewhere in the pizzeria, seeing him sitting at one of the long tables at the Dining Hall was quite the surprise. He was about to tease Mr Schmidt when he noticed how crestfallen he looked- now he was worried.

Mr Schmidt stopped looking at the menu thoughtfully when he heard a chair being pulled up, followed by a voice he knew too well. "Hey gramps."

"I told you not to call me that," he replied quietly, looking at the young man's worried eyes. Mr Fitzgerald gave him a curt smile, "You alright there? Pretty sure you'd be a goner..."

"Did you know?"

"That they'd try to kill you? Well duh, I already told-"

"Don't be silly, Mr Fitzgerald. I'm talking about the murders."

Mr Fitzgerald looked thoughtful for a moment, "You mean the ones happened back at Fredbear's Diner? Of course. I mean, the whole history of Fazbear Entertainment is a mixture of stale pizza, urban legends and a horrible past..." He looked up at the unmoving animatronics, making Mr Schmidt doubt if he wore that frown all the time. "I was about seven years old at the time, an avid Freddy fan, too. My parents never took me there after it happened..." He turned to the old guard with a chuckle, "They nearly lost it when I took the job at the new place with the... toy animatronics." He shuddered.

"So did you get moved to day shift back then?"

"Oh nah... I quit, went to college, came back around five years ago, got moved to day shift... And here we are."

"That explains the young man on the phone, then." Mr Schmidt fiddled with the menu in his hands.

"You mean that phone dude? Yeah, Paul, he was the guard before you before he got uh... Well, you'll see." Mr Fitzgerald was glad he wasn't a part of the cleaning crew, to say the least. Mr Schmidt raised an eyebrow, but let the comment pass.

"Bonnie and Chica paid me a visit last night," he continued, ignoring the terrified look on Mr Fitzgerald's face. He saw the young man mouth _visit?!_. "It seems these folks are pretty mad about the murders," the old guard continued, briefly flicking his eyes up at the animatronics. Mr Fitzgerald was about to make a snarky remark, but Mr Schmidt looked so serious yet sad that he decided against it. The elderly man looked at the other, "You know the murderer is one of the guards who worked here at the time, right?"

"I- oh. Uh... Well, that explains a lot." Seeing Mr Schmidt's curious expression, he continued, "The toy animatronics had this fancy facial recognition tech that was supposed to help them identify a criminal if they got into the pizzeria. I say 'supposed to' 'cause they seemed intent on hunting me down unless I wore a freakin' Freddy head."

"A Freddy head?" Mr Schmidt asked before he burst into laughter, "Ahaha... Ohohoh... I'm really sorry, Mr Fitzgerald, but I imagined you wearing a Freddy head for a moment and I..." He giggled.

"It wasn't funny at all, considering these four weirdos were also after me..." Mr Fitzgerald grumbled, "And the Freddy head didn't fool them most of the time, especially Foxy. The fact that they looked really torn up and all didn't help either." He fell silent for a moment, "So you say they've been after the security guards because the murderer was one?"

"That's pretty much what Chica has told me, yes."

"What she told- she actually spoke to you?!" Mr Fitzgerald looked as if Mr Schmidt had just turned into Freddy Fazbear. The old guard nodded. "I mean, I know they talk... But actually interacting with you... Wow." He rubbed his temples, "And they know who he killer is?" Mr Schmidt nodded again. "Wow."

"I know." the older man replied as he stifled a yawn. The door to the pizzeria opened and a few members of the cleaning crew arrived, seeming quite surprised to see the latest night guard still alive and in one piece. As the cooks arrived about ten minutes later, Mr Fitzgerald broke the silence: "Hey gramps, go home and get some rest. I'd say 'and never come back', but I know you're a very curious old man, so you'll be here tonight. So just... Go and sleep, you're already... what? Two hundred years old? You're gonna need all the energy you can get."

Mr Schmidt rolled his eyes at the young man's smirking face, "Excuse me, Mr Fitzgerald, I'm only a hundred and fifty." They shared a chuckle. The older man slowly got up and waited for his body to adjust to standing, "It's just heartbreaking, the whole tragedy... I have kids and a grandchild, I can't imagine losing them in such a horrible way..."

"I know, gramps..." Mr Fitzgerald answered, "I have a daughter myself, I'd probably be as angry as they are if I were them."

"Are my old ears deceiving me or are you actually sympathizing with them?" Mr Schmidt asked, raising a hand to hold near his ear in mock fashion.

"Oh psh! Just go home, old man!"

At 11:50 pm, Mr Schmidt was once again in the security office, tablet in his hands. Mr Fitzgerald's vague comments about the young gentleman who left him a message the previous night had made him curious. Just as he was debating whether he'd get another message or not, the phone rang; knowing it was that young man, Mr Schmidt didn't move a muscle.

"Uhh, hello? Hello? Uh, well, if you're hearing this and you made it to day two, uh, congrats!" Mr Schmidt smiled at the phone, "Thank you!"

"I-I won't talk quite as long this time since Freddy and his friends tend to become more active as the week progresses. Uhh, it might be a good idea to peek at those cameras while I talk just to make sure everyone's in their proper place. You know... Uh... Interestingly enough, Freddy himself doesn't come off stage very often. I heard he becomes a lot more active in the dark though, so, hey, I guess that's one more reason not to run out of power, right?" Mr Schmidt checked the stage to see all but Freddy had left. He could hear Chica in the kitchen and Bonnie seemed to be in backstage, standing uncomfortably close to the camera; his eyes were naught but white pinpricks and his mouth was slightly agape. The guard frowned at the sight, someone needed to teach that bunny some lessons in politeness.

"I-I also want to emphasize the importance of using your door lights. There are blind spots in your camera views, and those blind spots happen to be right outside of your doors. So if-if you can't find something, or someone, on your cameras, be sure to check the door lights." Mr Schmidt chuckled, remembering how using the lights helped him the previous night. He flickered the lights on both sides, simply seeing empty hallways.

"Uh, you might only have a few seconds to react... Uh, not that you would be in any danger, of course. I'm not implying that." The guard raised an eyebrow, this young man never ceased to surprise him. "Also, check on the curtain in Pirate Cove from time to time. The character in there seems unique in that he becomes more active if the cameras remain off for long periods of time. I guess he doesn't like being watched. I don't know. Anyway, I'm sure you have everything under control! Uh, talk to you soon..."

Mr Schmidt waved at the phone as he thought about what the man on the phone said- Foxy? Not liking attention? That was very unlikely. He switched to the Pirate Cove cam, only to see the pirate fox was already off his stage; he was looking at the camera, bearing his sharp teeth, a dull glow in his dangerous, robotic eyes. The guard sighed as he observed the fox, now that he was fully out, it was easier to see the damage months (or maybe years) had done to him.

Heavy footsteps. Mr Schmidt checked the cameras, wary of using up the power. It seemed Bonnie and Chica were having a chat in the Dining Area, the chick most likely teasing the bunny, judging by their body language. Freddy was still on the stage, glaring daggers at the camera. Content that they weren't rudely interrupting his work, nor were on their way for a chat with him, Mr Schmidt turned back to watching Foxy.

He was gone.

Mr Schmidt squinted doubtfully when he heard clanking footsteps from somewhere in the building. He shone his flashlight on East Hall- nothing. He then proceeded to do the same with West Hall, only to meet Foxy suddenly coming to a halt a mere foot away from him. He seemed to be perplexed by the light Mr Schmidt shone right into his eyes.

"Oh gosh!" Mr Schmidt exclaimed, quickly putting down his flashlight. He only had a brief chance to look into the pirate fox's golden eyes before the animatronic screeched.

Throwing the flashlight away in a moment of horror, Mr Schmidt's face contorted into a frown. "Captain Foxy, I am disappointed in you!" he scolded the robot, "The others being rude I can understand, but you? You're a-"

"Enough wit' yer nonsense, ye salty kraken! I be here t' kill yer sorry excuse fer a human bein'!" Mr Schmidt only let out an excited chuckle in return.

"You're just as I remember you! Oh well, I'll forgive you this time, only because you're such a great pirate." Foxy bore his sharp teeth and raised his hook with an animalistic growl- only to have the night guard hold it firmly and drag him into the security office. His broken jaw seemed to reflect his thoughts for once: surprise.

"What is wrong wit' ye?!" he angrily inquired as he was forced to sit in the chair. Mr Schmidt shushed the pirate as if he were a tiny child and told him to wait before he disappeared in West Hall. He came back ten minutes later with his arms full of various items. He once again shushed the fox who only managed to utter a weak growl this time, grabbed a wrench and a screwdriver and got close to the animatronic. Foxy climbed onto the chair like a wild cat and even swung his hook at him.

"Hold still, now... I'm going to fix your jaw!"

"Nay, halt! Yer going t' tear me t' pieces!"

"Be quiet and sit still!" The old man's authoritative voice was new to Foxy, he fell silent. Mr Schmidt patiently dealt with a lose screw here and there with the help of his equipment for a few minutes. When he was pleased with what he had done, he wiped sweat off his face and smiled at the fox, "Go on!" The pirate closed and opened his jaw experimentally, his eyes widening with surprise when he noticed he had full control of it like he once did.

"Ah ah ah!" Mr Schmidt warned as he saw Foxy move to get up, "We're not done yet, captain."

The distrust and gratitude he felt towards the guard clashing within him like the seven seas, Foxy frowned. "Now what? Yer going t' put a bow on me head?" he said, sounding annoyed.

"I was thinking of mending that tear on your chest, but I can do that too if that's what you want." Mr Schmidt replied with a wink as he dropped his equipment on the table to grab new, different ones: a needle and some thread. He raised an amused eyebrow when he saw the fox flinch a little, "Are you afraid of needles, Captain Foxy?"

"I ain't afraid o' nuthin'!" the fox countered, puffing his chest with pride, "Is jus' a lil' too big, tha's all."

Mr Schmidt smiled, "I won't hurt you, don't worry." He started carefully sewing the torn piece in order to close the gaping hole in the pirate's chest.

Fifteen minutes later the pirate was running out of the office at full speed, yelling about how a pirate would never let someone give him a bath; a sad Mr Schmidt left behind with clean rags in his hands.

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 **(AN: Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews and follows! And Rubix, I agree with you, I prefer reading and writing long chapters as well. I have two reasons, though, one being the fact that I'm working. Combined with the time I spend in the traffic, I'm busy from 6 am to 9 pm, that leaves a tiny amount of time and energy for me to write. And secondly, I was planning writing the first chapters as short, introductory once, hence the two-chapter first night. I'm open to trying out new stuff though, so have a long chapter!)**


	5. Murders and a Bath

**(AN: Hello! One tiny note before the story this time as I have to give a warning. Mention of blood and violence in this chapter, changing the rating to T as well.)**

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Back when Chica and Bonnie were caught conversing on the Dining Hall camera by Mr Michael Schmidt, the chick was indeed teasing the bunny.

"Well yeah! I let him live 'cause I wanted to, I didn't run away from him like you did!"

"Ah'm tellin' ya Chee, Ah didn' run away! He closed that freakin' door on me!" Bonnie fiddled with his hands, looking down at Chica with anger in his eyes.

"I see no difference there, Bon! Now, are we killing this guard or not?" Chica replied happily, turning to the direction of East Hall. Foxy's feet's unmistakable clanking was heard in the distance, Bonnie held Chica's arm to stop her. She turned to look at him with an amused grin, "Worried Foxy will run into you?"

"D'ya remembah him, too?" Bonnie asked, his face serious. "That guard, Smack or Shmuck or whatevah..."

"Schmidt." the chick corrected, "I keep hearing the day staff talking about him and how we 'couldn't kill him yet'. As much as I've memorized his name at this point, no." She looked up at the bunny with a raised eyebrow, "Should I?" She let out a tiny gasp as realization dawned on her, "Is it him?" She quickly turned to go after the guard, but was stopped by Bonnie once again.

"Jeez, Chica, wait a sec will ya?" She put her hands on her hips expectantly, looking like a bomb about to go off. "Look, Ah don' know if that's him, 'kay? Mah memory's been as bad as you fellas' when it comes ta that incident. Ya know how they broke our minds when they broke our bodies!" He looked frustrated, which made the chick soften a little, "Then what are you talking about, Bon?"

"He used ta take his kids ta tha old place, Fredbear's Dinah. Ah remembah those two, and him, too. He was youngah then of course, but still cocky like he is now. Then he was around wit' a girl until some years ago..." He looked thoughtful.

"But you're still not certain that he's not... him, are you?"

Bonnie seemed to deflate visibly, "Nah. Ah jus'..."

"Getting soft, Bon? Are you going to propose we stop hunting him down and be friends with him or something now?" Chica's amused expression was back.

"Nah! Jus' wanted ta see if ya remembah him too."

"You know how much I want to forget those days, Bon..." Chica sighed, "The bite, murders, the second restaurant..."

Laughter. The pitter-patter of excited feet. Music. Fresh pizza just out of the oven.

The calendars' leaves indicated it was November 1991. Not long after Fredbear and Barneybunny were decommissioned because of the bite, Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken and Foxy the Pirate Fox had the spotlight all to themselves. They earned it, and deserved it. Their love for children, their upbeat attitude, the songs the band sang and the stories Foxy told had made the bite forgotten to an extent- Fredbear's Diner was cramped with children and adults alike. The animatronics cared for each and every child visiting the diner every single day, none went forgotten by the four robots.

Which was how Freddy Fazbear noticed there were some kids who seemed to be missing. Some of their parents looked unaware, some alert and some worried. Deciding he could get off the stage as the band's show had paused to give Foxy the time to tell his stories, he smiled at Bonnie and Chica and disappeared surprisingly easily in the crowd of children.

Nothing could prepare the robotic bear for what he was about to see.

As a being created for the sole purpose of loving and entertaining children, what he saw and went through that day would haunt Freddy for the rest of his existence. The night guard, abnormally around during the day shift, covered in blood, had a wicked smile plastered on his disgusting face. The bear looked down, only to see four unmoving children; his inner programming kicked in and he rushed to check their states, though he was well aware that the poor little kids were long gone.

His sudden movement seemed to trigger something in the night guard with the purple shirt, however, the animatronic felt a blow to the side of his head. He was so lost in his grief that he had forgotten about the killer for a moment.

A mad chuckle. Quick, strong steps. An animatronic's scream. Blood and oil smeared across brown fur.

Worried that Freddy hadn't been around for a while, Bonnie jumped off the stage, giving Chica a thumbs up and a wink. The chick rolled her eyes at the bunny's antics, causing the children she was serving cupcakes giggle. Under all the act, both animatronics were extremely worried.

Bonnie went after Freddy, only to be met by a hellish, horrifying sight.

Down he went, along with the bear. One more child safely stuffed into a suit. The murderer chuckled maniacally. His vile voice washed over the happy melody playing outside.

Being a part of Fazband, Chica couldn't stay passive any longer, of course. Having served pizza and cupcakes to the happy children, she followed her friends' footsteps.

An agonized wail. One glitchy voice. Sound of the hammer pounding on metal. One pink cupcake rolling on the floor lifelessly.

Most parents had noticed the absence of the animatronics, along with the staff, at this point. Unlike the anxious crew, however, the parents were calm as they were told that the band could take such a break from time to time. Foxy eyed the staff cautiously from Pirate's Cove, what was the cause of such a blatant lie?

He held on until he finished his story, even managing to bow graciously to the children who were applauding him excitedly.

He ran off the stage. Never in his brief existence did he remember running so fast, everything around him but a mere blur.

He was too late.

He fought with his sharp teeth and hook, for his fallen friends and for the four children who had suffered in this maniac's filthy hands. Metal was naught against such flesh hardened by such a cold heart, he fell. A heap of twitching, sparking metal, wailing in the pool of blood that once gave life to tiny children.

The murderer was long gone by the time the staff arrived at the basement.

Nothing was more painful than to hear the grieving parents cry.

The murders, combined with the bite not too many years ago, wasn't something that could be easily forgotten. Fredbear's Diner's doors were locked, in hopes to lock away the horror; Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was opened, a new name to go with the new animatronics. The four had to suffer disrepair and even more dismantlement to feed the new, kid friendly animatronics with metal. Oh, how they hated the toys' rosy cheeks and posh voices!

And how they had to rot, body and soul, because of a sin they didn't commit, while those weird bunch of robots took the spotlight away from them.

Chica shook her head to relieve herself from the past and returned to her carefree attitude, "Well, Bon, I'm off to visit the guard; someone stole my cupcake. _Again._ "

"Fahn, Ah'm gonna covah the otha' door." He had to stop and move a couple of steps back as he saw one horrified fox he knew too well running through the corridor. Foxy disappeared behind his curtains, only to reappear with fear in his golden eyes. He looked at Bonnie and Chica and pointed his hook towards the security office, "Hide yeselves, tha' old kraken be after us!" Even Freddy, who had been silent and unmoving up to now, moved only slightly to see what the guard did to scare the brave pirate so much.

"What's going on?" Chica asked the fox, voicing the bear's and bunny's worried thoughts.

"He... He- well... He fixed me chest firs', actin' as if he be thinkin' fer me good! I wasn' fool'd, o' course, but he caught me off guard neverth'less!"

"Stop turnin' it into a story and cut t' tha chase, Foxy."

"Bonnie! Rude!"

"Ah don' c-"

"HE BE AFTER US T' CLEAN OUR SUITS! HE BE PREPARED, RUN FER YER LIVES!" the frantic fox interrupted them and yelled before once again disappearing behind his curtains. Bonnie and Chica looked at each other, clearly not believing Foxy and deeming him a coward. They made a run for the office through the corridors they normally went with. Foxy would be so proud of the two heavier animatronics clanking down the corridors; Freddy, on the other hand, tsked. Those two were like naughty little children.

Mr Schmidt was about to put the cleaning supplies aside and check the cameras when he heard the commotion going on in the corridors. Considering how the whole building seemed to tremble and grumble, that was either an earth quake, or...

"FIRST!" Chica screamed triumphantly as she barged into the office from Mr Schmidt's right, followed by a pouting Bonnie from his left.

"It's not fair! You stahted runnin' before me!" Chica simply replied with a "Pft!" and turned to the guard, her happy composure changing to something primal. Mr Schmidt waved happily.

"You stole my cupcake. Again!" the chick complained, moving towards the desk to snatch her beloved pink companion.

"I'm quite sure the day staff puts it here, Miss Chica." the guard replied with a tiny smile, sitting in his chair.

"Liar!"

"Are ya gonna talk about ya cupcake or are we gonna kill him already?" Bonnie interrupted. Mr Schmidt turned to look at the bunny, his face suddenly lighting up.

"I clearly remember you were blue and not violet when you first met your audience, Bonnie." he said, the smile still on his lips. Chica "Oooooh!"ed and slowly started walking out of the office.

"That's what ya get fo' bein' used as tahget practice fo' kids, d'ya even know how gettin' pizza an' whatnot thrown at ya' feels like? Lemme tell ya, it sucks!" Bonnie rambled on before he paused. Why was Chica gone?

"Oh." The bunny took a step back from the old man with a cunning glint in his eyes. "Nah... Nope... Nah ya won't, ya old ma- STOP IT YA MEANIE!" Bonnie yelped as the guard forcefully made him sit in the office chair. He could hear Chica giggling like crazy as she ran to Dining Hall, oh he was so going to get her for this!

Mr Schmidt chuckled as he started cleaning Bonnie thoroughly. "Sit still, now... There we go!" He leaned in, close enough for the bunny to consider if he could bite the guard's face off. Mr Schmidt worked on Bonnie's eyes, then snout and whiskers as he gossiped, "You know, Captain Foxy acts like he's the bravest soul around here, but you clearly are better! You know how to sit still and be patient, Mr Bonnie." Bonnie snorted, trying hard to ignore the fact that getting cleaned up for real once felt really nice. The cleaning crew only cleaned blood off their suits if, by any chance, a guard they killed managed to smear it onto the animatronics. How rude.

An hour later, almost at 6 am, Bonnie returned to Dining Hall sparkling clean. "You look so... blue!" Chica teased, clearly jealous of how clean and new the bunny looked. He simply grinned and climbed onto the stage, letting Freddy's curious eyes take him in. "Not mah fault he likes me bettah!"

He was too busy fiddling with his crimson guitar to see the pink cupcake getting hurled at his face.

"Ow!" was he last thing Mr Schmidt heard before the clock struck six.


	6. Summer Job and a Top Hat

Mr Jeremy Fitzgerald unlocked the doors to the pizzeria in a much better mood than the previous morning (though still a little worried about the night guard) and went in. He found Mr Schmidt sitting at one of the tables again, thankfully, and decided to sit with him until the rest of the staff arrived.

"More sad stuff, gramps?" he asked, seeing the guard's serious expression. His gaze went back and forth between the old man and the animatronics on the stage as he fiddled with his keys.

"I'm not sure, Mr Fitzgerald..." Michael Schmidt sighed, "These old ears can hear only to an extent."

"What do you mean, old man?"

"Last night I caught Chica and Bonnie conversing in Dining Hall," the elderly man began, "I couldn't hear everything they said, but they seemed to be talking about the old restaurant."

"The old restaurant or the old old restaurant?" Mr Fitzgerald asked, his attention fully on what Mr Schmidt was saying.

"Both?" The older man shrugged. "It was about the murders, how the got decommissioned and how the toy animatronics took their place."

"Ah." the younger man uttered, a shiver running up and down his body.

"Oh yes... I was wondering..." he turned to face Mr Fitzgerald, "Can you tell me a little about them? Or your experience there?"

Mr Fitzgerald frowned, so much for a nice day.

"Uh, hello? Hello, hello? Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path." Exciting? Pft! Jeremy rolled his eyes at the phone currently playing a recorded message of a ridiculously happy guy.

"Uh, now, I want you to forget anything you may have heard about the old location, you know. Uh, some people still have a somewhat negative impression of the company."

"Well duh! Those 'bots ate a kid's brains, then there was a pedophile officially working for you guys!" the youngster threw his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"Uh... that old restaurant was kind of left to rot for quite a while, but I want to reassure you, Fazbear Entertainment is committed to family fun and above all, safety. They've spent a small fortune on these new animatronics, uh, facial recognition, advanced mobility, they even let them walk around during the day." Jeremy looked at the phone sadly, he remembered the times the four walked around in public- the original four. "Isn't that neat? But most importantly, they're all tied into some kind of criminal database, so they can detect a predator a mile away. Heck, we should be paying them to guard you." Jeremy frowned, that was something good, at least?

"Uh, now that being said, no new system's without its... kinks." The young guard let out a long groan. "Uh... you're only the second guard to work at that location." His groan got louder. "Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions. Uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right? Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office. Now, from what we know, that should be impossible." Jeremy's eyes widened, now that sould be fun! "Uh, that restaurant should be the safest place on earth. So while our engineers don't really have an explanation for this, the working theory is that... the robots were never given a proper 'night mode'. So when it gets quiet, they think they're in the wrong room, so then they go try to find where the people are, and in this case, that's your office." The youngster hummed as he flicked through the cams, cringing slightly at how the toys looked. "So our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed and wind it up for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to affect all of the animatronics, but it does affect... one of them." He switched to the Prize Counter and wound up the music box as instructed, the marionette was such a weirdo in his opinion. "Uh, and as for the rest of them, we have an even easier solution. You see, there may be a minor glitch in the system, something about robots seeing you as an endoskeleton without his costume on, and wanting to stuff you in a suit, so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head, problem solved! You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want. Eventually anything that wandered in, will wander back out." Jeremy eyed the Freddy head sitting at the corner of his desk and wondered what it was used for before he got into possession of it.

"Uh, something else worth mentioning is kind of the modern design of the building. You may have noticed there are no doors for you to close, heh. But hey, you have a light! And even though your flashlight can run out of power, the building cannot."

"Amazing." The guard said, clearly unamused.

"So, don't worry about the place going dark. Well, I think that's it. Uh, you should be golden. Uh, check the lights, put on the Freddy head if you need to, uh, keep the music box wound up, piece of cake. Have a good night, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Whatever, dude."

About two and a half hours later, he was sweating like crazy, hyperventilating and on the verge of screaming. The light he shone into the corridor and the vents having dulled a little, a clear indication that the batteries weren't full, he wondered what on earth he did to deserve a bunch of happy-looking robots haunting- hunting him. He heard someone in the right vent, having seen it was Toy Bonnie when he checked the cams a few minutes ago, he let out an agonized "Oh god!" and put on the Freddy head. Watching the blue animatronic nearly gliding to face him with a grin on his face, only to pout and leave with a "Gosh darn, I could swear I saw a suspicious person 'round here!" and finally taking off the head, he swore he'd never set foot in this freak house ever again.

But here he was, his second night at work. Frankly, he was surprised at himself for getting his butt back here after the horrors he went through the night before. Creepy Toy Bonnie? Check. Beakless Chica? Check. Giggling Balloon Boy and the puppet nearly getting out of his box probably to kill him? Check.

"Ah...hello, hello! Uh, see, I told you your first night wouldn't be a problem. You're a natural!"

"You don't say?!" Jeremy growled at the phone for a moment before starting to check the cams.

"Uh, by now I'm sure you've noticed the older models sitting in the back room. Uh, those are from the previous location. We just use them for parts now. The idea at first was to repair them...uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology, but they were just so ugly, you know? The smell... uh, so the company decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly. Uh, those older ones shouldn't be able to walk around, but if they do, the whole Freddy head trick shoud work on them too, so, whatever." Jeremy frowned as he stopped to check the original animatronics, he personally felt offended on their behalf at what the guy on the phone had just said.

"That's what you get for letting a psycho walk around in the diner!" he said angrily, "People die and innocent robots get the blame for it!" He used to adore the original four, especially Freddy. Seeing them in such a horrible condition, used only for spare parts made his heart ache.

"Uh... heh... I love those old characters. Did you ever see Foxy the pirate? Oh wait, hold on... oh yeah, Foxy. Uh, hey listen, that one was always a bit twitchy, uh... I'm not sure the Freddy head trick will work on Foxy, uh. If for some reason he activates during the night and you see him standing at the far end of the hall, just flash your light at him from time to time. Those older models would always get disoriented with bright lights. It would cause a system restart, or something. Uh, come to think of it, you might want to try that on any room where something undesirable might be. It might hold them in place for a few seconds. That glitch might be in some of the newer models too." Jeremy shone his flashlight in the corridor only to let out a yelp, he nearly dropped his flashlight at the sight of none other than Foxy- not the ugly excuse of a fox that they called Foxy, that is, _the_ Foxy! He flickered his light at him until he looked surprised for a moment and left, his metal shoulders sagging a little.

"One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It was always... thinking, and it can go anywhere... I don't think a Freddy mask will fool it, so just don't forget the music box. Anyway, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Uh, have a good night, and talk to you tomorrow." Jeremy shuddered at the ominous tone of the guy on the phone. He didn't have time to think on his words, however, Bonnie was standing in the corridor- his face was gone.

Jeremy just sat in his chair, mouth agape, flashlight trained on the faceless bunny who seemed to have gone purple with years of dirt and dust. "What have they done to you guys?" he managed to whisper, the Freddy head long forgotten next to him.

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Oh god!" he struggled to check the cameras, that innocent beeping meant he forgot to wind the music box for too long! He breathed out with relief as he dealt with the tiny crisis and raised his head from the laptop he was looking at- Bonnie was standing right in front of him.

He quickly put on the Freddy head with trembling hands, hoping the guy on the phone was right about the animatronics' behavior. It turned out he wasn't, as he could see Bonnie reaching out for him through the empty sockets of the bear head, "I kn-know it'sssssss ya! Y-ya can't hide from meeeee!" Jeremy pushed his chair back as far as he could, trying not to accept the fact that he was cornered. "Y-ya m-m-murderah!" The bunny's only arm -as the other one seemed to have been ripped off, Jeremy noticed with horror- was inches away from his collar; a giggle came from the left vent, indicating Balloon Boy was in there. Jeremy sucked in a breath, he was surely done for! "I'm sorry..." was all he could utter before he opened his eyes (when did he even close them?) to notice Bonnie was gone.

He was thoughtful when he left the pizzeria this time. He had multiple encounters with Bonnie and Chica getting in his face and leaving when they heard there was a Toy nearby. Were they afraid of the new animatronics? Jeremy shook his head, that didn't make any sense. The originals seemed to work together if possible, so them leaving when the new ones came near the office didn't make any sense.

"And that's when I noticed they probably liked the toys no better than I did." Mr Fitzgerald told Mr Schmidt. He had to lower his voice as the cleaning crew came in, "Look, I'll tell you about the rest tomorrow." He leaned in close to the older guard, "I don't trust these people." Mr Schmidt nodded understandingly. "So try not to die tonight, okay, gramps?" Mr Schmidt simply chuckled at Mr Fitzgerald's exaggerated wink.

Freddy Fazbear was a patient soul. He had patience for naughty children, he had patience for overreacting parents, he had patience for each and every issue in his little, pizza-filled world.

That was how he would never move before the third night. Now, unlike the impatient Bonnie and Chica or the overly excited Foxy, Freddy would rather wait to see if the guard would slip and make a mistake, like getting out of the office in response to a noise his friends would make or simply running out of power. Unlike most people thought, Freddy Fazbear wasn't the leader of their small group, per se, he was simply more patient and cunning. The kill always belonged to whomever got to the guard first, and Freddy was more than happy to help the said animatronic enjoy it.

Not that he wouldn't enjoy a kill himself, of course. Freddy Fazbear had a twisted sense of humor when it came to hunting down the night guards. He would stare at the camera during at least the first two days, doing nothing other than throwing a blood curdling glare at the person watching him; he'd make the guard have a false sense of security that he wasn't after them, then do the opposite and hunt them down with ease. By the time he'd start openly changing rooms, letting out a silly laugh every time he did so, the guard would be too scared to think properly. He would aid the others as distraction for the guards from time to time, and sometimes got to kill those murderous pedophiles himself. Oh how delicious the looks on the guards' faces would be as he played his innocent little tune whenever they went out of power, his sole face illuminated within pitch dark.

Freddy Fazbear was thinking about this when the stage camera lit up with a buzz. Bonnie already gone and Chica giggling meanly on his left, Freddy turned his head to the right and gave the cam a horrifying smile. The guard must have noticed the sudden change in Freddy's demeanor, as he lingered for a little while, observing the bear. Chica huffed, clearly bored with the attention the stage was getting and easily messed with the cameras remotely so that she could get off the stage. Freddy shook his head with a soft smile on his face, they were never patient!

He heard the shuffling of curtains, then Foxy's fast metal feet clanking down the corridor. The wild card, he chuckled, shaking his head once again.

The pirate fox came to a screeching halt as the guard's voice echoed through East Hall, "Came back for your bath, Captain?" The animatronic let out a scared yelp, his footsteps indicating that he was running back to his stage-

CRASH!

"What tha heck are ya doin', man?!" He must have run into Bonnie, then. Before Foxy could reply, Mr Schmidt looked out of the left door with genuine worry on his face, "Oh gosh! Are you two alright?" The tangled heap that used to be a robot bunny and a robot fox looked at the old man and hissed simultaneously, however the guard seemed to be unfazed as he got out with a flashlight in his hand and walked towards the helpless duo as fast as his old body could. They were in the Dining Hall now, not as close to Freddy as the robotic bear hoped, but still quite within his reach. Chica stopped with her pot-and-pan-symphony for a moment to stand at the kitchen door silently, shocked that the guard was reckless enough to walk right into trouble- his death, rather.

Mr Schmidt tried to assess the damage and shone his light onto the fox and the bunny, who stopped in their tracks, seeming quite paralyzed. The guard tsked, seeing how Foxy's hook was buried deep in Bonnie's chest and the bunny's arm elbow-deep in the fox's mouth. Their legs seemed to be tangled as well, that explained why they couldn't move much. The guard knelt down slowly, waggling an amused finger at Bonnie who tried to bite him, "Now now, Mr Bonnie, would you rather spend your night with Captain Foxy like this?" That seemed to shut the duo up. Chica turned to look at Freddy, hoping to get a reasonable explanation, but the bear only shrugged ever so slightly. With a silent agreement, they decided to stay passive for the time being in order to surprise the guard when needed; he'd probably run into his little office and lock them up at this point. Not that that was something they couldn't deal with, of course, but right now they had two -much better- possibilities... One: He would fix Foxy and Bonnie, then they would attack him together. Two: He'd get himself busy with the two and get distracted enough for Chica and Freddy to get him.

Mr Schmidt held the flashlight between his teeth to see in the near-pitch-black darkness and messed with Foxy's jaw. With a series of whirs and clanks, Bonnie's arm was free, albeit a little torn.

A joyous laughter was heard. Bonnie's head whipped up, Foxy let out a sinister chuckle. Mr Schmidt looked around, seeing nothing due to the tables surrounding him; he shrugged, that sure didn't sound like a robber!

With a little push here and a little pull there, Foxy's hook was free from Bonnie's chest. Heavy footsteps were heard. Mr Schmidt was proud to admit that he could recognize the animatronics by the sounds they made at this point, so it was easy for him to notice that this was someone new. Foxy ran into his covered stage, Bonnie seemed to use the shadows to hide himself. Whipping his flashlight around, Mr Schmidt first illuminated the unmoving form of Chica at far right, then the very Freddy Fazbear himself standing right in front of him.

Freddy laughed, his bright blue eyes filled with the mixture of ecstatic happiness and pure hatred.

"Oh hello there, Mr Freddy!" Mr Schmidt exclaimed, "I was sure you'd never get off your st- urgh!" His happy speech came to an abrupt end as the bear grabbed him by the throat, his brown face covered with a murderous grin. Mr Schmidt squinted at Freddy with disbelief in his eyes, a quite casual reaction considering his feet were dangling in the air two feet from the floor. "Mister Freddy Fazbear!" he coughed angrily, and-

He hit Freddy right in the nose with his flashlight.

 _SQUEAK!_

Freddy dropped the guard and grabbed at his nose. As the other animatronics practically ran away, more to hide their amused laughter at Freddy's squeaky nose than to run away from the bear's anger, his angry voice filled the large room. "I try to settle this issue like a gentleman and you disrespect me, you bloody murderer!"

Mr Schmidt raised an amused brow, "In my defense, Mr Freddy, you were trying to choke me to death!"

Freddy growled and tipped his hat curtly, "I shall see you soon then, murderer." For the first time in his existence, he changed rooms without letting out his trademark laughter. Foxy, who had been watching the commotion from between his curtains, looked at the guard with amused eyes as he made his way to the security office and let out an "Oooooh!" as if Mr Schmidt had committed the deadliest sin.


	7. Agony Among The Shadows

Mr Schmidt got into the security office with sagged shoulders and slow steps, Chica barging in a moment later with the exact opposite attitude: angry and quick. The old man carefully sat down in the chair without an acknowledgement, did a quick check of the cameras, then looked up from the tablet to see the annoyed chick already reaching for her cupcake. "What do you want, Miss Chica?" he asked calmly, though the answer was quite obvious. He sounded tired, which was something she wasn't used to when it came to the old guard.

The robot chick looked at him with her cupcake firmly protected between her hands, brows furrowed, "You know you deserved it, Freddy held on for more than enough."

"You think?" Mr Schmidt inquired with a sad smile on his wrinkled face. He returned to checking the cams and sighed, "I think it's time you go and join your friends, Miss Chica."

The chick looked at the guard, her violet eyes wide as she let out an incredulous snort, "You do know I'm here to kill you, right?"

Mr Schmidt didn't bother looking at her, nor did he answer the question. Seeing that the guard was adamant about checking those precious cameras of his, thus making her hunt boring, Chica left with an annoyed sigh, grumbling while she stomped all the way back to Dining Hall.

Bonnie teased his friend when she joined him near the stage, arms crossed across his chest smugly, "Makin' friends wit' tha guahd now, eh Chee?"

Chica was about to snap at him (and probably rip his ears off) when a knock was heard- no, it was more than a simple knock, it sounded like someone had started pounding on a door with their fists. The duo looked at each other with worry in their eyes; there was the shuffling of curtains as Foxy peaked his head out, looking at the source of the sound, his golden eyes showing he knew too well what it was.

Freddy Fazbear, in the meantime, was busy taking his sweet time making his way to the guard's office one laughter at a time. Mr Schmidt spotted him right outside the right door, he was about to confront the robotic bear with the murderous glint in his eyes when the two simultaneously heard the knocking. Mr Schmidt had managed to keep his hearing intact despite his old age, so he was quick to react; he grabbed his flashlight and baton and went out of the left door before Freddy could even reach him, this tiny old man was ready to defend the pizzeria from whatever dangers lurked in its rooms- other than the animatronics themselves, that is.

He was met by the other three animatronics huddled together in Dining Hall, anxiously whispering to each other; they stopped when they noticed Mr Schmidt. Foxy growled, far less menacingly than usual, while Chica looked troubled and Bonnie simply annoyed. Mr Schmidt gave them a tiny wave, motioned them to stay quiet and looked around to understand where the knocking was coming from.

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the front door. Mr Schmidt hummed as he shone his flashlight onto things around him, it was coming from the backstage! He took a step towards the right direction, Foxy hissed at him as Bonnie took a quick step and stood in front of him. The old guard coughed politely, "You're standing in my way, Mr Bonnie."

"Ah know." Bonnie answered with a tiny voice. Foxy wrapped a protective arm around Chica who was fiddling with her hands, it was obvious that he was as... afraid? as she was. Mr Schmidt furrowed his brows, "Well, you need to let me pass. I'm the night guard and it's my job to check if things are alright in cases like this."

Bonnie opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Freddy who finally joined them, "You're not allowed to go in there."

Mr Schmidt turned around to waggle a scolding finger at Freddy, "Mr Fazbear, you're clearly younger than me, you're in no position to decide if I'm allowed to do something or not!" He turned to walk towards the door to the backstage, but Bonnie grabbed his arm, firm but not meaning to hurt the man. "Please," he begged, his voice a mere whisper. Mr Schmidt patted Bonnie's hand gently, "I appreciate your concern, Mr Bonnie, but if there's something in there that scares you that much, I have to do something about it." The bunny let go reluctantly as Mr Schmidt added with a wink, "Didn't you four want to kill me anyway?"

"He won't be as merciful as we are," Freddy called out from behind him as Bonnie joined Chica and Foxy, they looked like scared children, hugging each other like that. It was interesting for Mr Schmidt to see how they picked up on children's attitudes. He raised an eyebrow as Freddy's deep voice with a British accent filled the room again, "We held on to our sanity, but he has long lost it... Mr... Schmidt. He'll most probably tear you apart."

"Oh psh!" Mr Schmidt waved a dismissive hand as an agonized howl filled the pizzeria. They all shuddered involuntarily, Mr Schmidt held onto his flashlight and walked towards the door with firm steps. He reached for the doorknob and-

"Wait!" It was Foxy, "If th' kraken be after ol' cap'n, then we coul' at least give 'im sum infermation." He turned to see the others' reaction, looking like a lost puppy.

"What difference will it make?" Chica asked, "He'll be dead in any case, whether he knows or not." She shrugged, "We don't even know what Freadbear will do to him when he sees him..."

"Freadbear?" Mr Schmidt weakly asked. "The old geezah will surely die!" Bonnie commented.

Freddy crossed his arms, "He'll be dead in any case, true... So we can tell him, I believe..." Even he himself didn't sound so sure about his opinion.

"Alright!" Chica bellowed, "We can watch him fight a bit more properly, then. Like some gladiator fight!" The sudden change in her demeanor seemed to affect Bonnie and Foxy as well.

"Aren't we going to open this door?" Mr Schmidt asked, jerking a thumb towards it, "He sounds awfully disturbed."

"That's how he always is," Bonnie replied, "Wouldn't ya be if ya accidentally bit a poor kid's head off?"

"Ah." Mr Schmidt nodded understandingly. He looked at the backstage door sadly, the noise hadn't stopped, even for a moment.

"So..." Foxy waved his hook, "Up fer a li'l story then, ol' kraken?"

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( **AN: Shorter chapter this time because I want to make the next one more compact. I'm also a bit tired, so yeah...)**


	8. Old Gold and Indigo

**(AN: Mention of blood ahead! I swear the genre is still "humor"... Up to a point, that is.)**

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The strumming of a guitar and a gentle, deep cough indicated the show was about to start. Children all around the room fell silent, excitedly holding onto their plates filled with delicious pizza.

"Hiya, kids! How are you doin'?" It was the tall, excited bunny with golden fur who was speaking. He grinned widely, his buck teeth glowing bright white under the stage's lights. He held onto his crimson guitar with one hand and waved at the children with the other as they cheered happily.

"It's always great to see y'all so happy, kids!" The golden bear with the purple tie chimed in, raising his top hat -which matched his tie in color- politely. He looked up at his lean partner, "Are we ready to make things fun, Barneybunny?"

The rabbit looked down at his chubby friend, "Oh yes, Fredbear!" He held onto his guitar, "Here we go; 1, 2, 3!"

Unnoticed by the duo, four teenagers were up to no good with the mean plan they had in mind as they slipped into the backstage. The new animatronics (Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy) were off duty that day as they were getting their monthly clean-up and that was exactly what these particular teenagers needed.

The star of their soon-to-be-conducted-show was already in there, his little face covered with tears as he cried his heart out on the floor. Judging by his weak pleas of "Please let me out…" he must have lost his voice and energy crying out in fear a long time ago.

The one with the gray shirt walked past the boy nonchalantly and reached for Foxy with a grin on his face; he grabbed the pirate fox's exoskeleton's head and took it off with little struggle, "Come on," he whispered calmly to the others, "Get one for yourselves."

It was interesting, how the parents entrusted the little boy to the leader of the group so easily, he was the boy's older brother after all. Nobody paid them any attention when they got out of the backstage, holding the boy in their firm and harmful grasp; the adults must have thought it was just a fun game they were playing, why else would a little boy scream anxiously as he got carried away by four teenagers wearing animatronic heads?

It was the little boy's birthday after all, he deserved all the fun he could get. Oh if they only knew how he hated this place, all thanks to his abusive older brother and his horrible friends.

Close to the stage, they let the boy fall to the floor in a way that would surely cause a bruise here and there. They closed in on him, using their larger forms to add to the boy's fear- the cheers of the children and the songs the golden duo sang were loud enough to hide the little boy's sobs at this point.

"Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn't he?" the one with the red shirt and Bonnie head asked with a laugh, looking at his friend.

"It's hilarious," the older brother replied, "Why don't we help him get a closer look? He will love it!" He bent down to grab his brother's arm, the boy squirmed.

"No! Please!" The request fell on deaf ears.

"Come on guys, let's give this little man a lift. He wants to get up close and personal!" What kind of an older brother was he to torment the little one so much?

A very fun one, for sure.

They hoisted the boy up once again, ignoring his screams; many parents "Aww"ed as they passed by, they still thought this was a cute, innocent game.

As if the long shadows of the duo falling upon them wasn't frightening enough for the little boy who kept begging, his brother spoke up again, "You heard the little man! He wants to get even closer." The four shared a hearty laugh.

The golden animatronics looked no less terrifying up close, the boy decided. He might have liked them if it weren't for his brother who was so intent on scaring him whenever they were at Fredbear's Diner. "Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!" he heard his brother shout out before he was helplessly raised towards the robotic bear. Time seemed to have slowed down. "Tell us if the fatso looks as dumb on the inside as he looks on the outside!" the big brother cackled. "On three! One… two…"

Even the parents and the staff weren't quick enough to act when the four trouble makers easily pushed the little boy towards Fredbear. There was a loud crunching sound of bones and blood spurted all over Fredbear, bathing Barneybunny and some of the kids closer to the stage in brain parts and blood as well.

Then there was silence. Then a scream, a sob here and there. Then all hell broke loose.

Naturally, Fredbear's Diner was closed down for days as it faced with many charges. Luckily, however, the owners were rich enough to prevent the event from going beyond local news and to get the case closed in a month. They decommissioned the golden duo- they had it coming anyway, there were the new animatronics much prettier and with higher tech. Piece of cake.

That was not the case for Fredbear, however, as he was fully conscious when the bite happened, albeit not in control of his body. As a being programmed to put children above all else, harming a child meant going against his nature- yet there they were.

The first month, during the time the diner was closed, was the worst. Barneybunny, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were all there to help him feel less pained; but how powerful friends' support could be against one's own guilty conscious?

Fredbear wailed and wailed. He threw his trademark hat to the floor, crushed it with his big feet as if he was trying to crush himself with each and every angry stomp. He broke down tables and chairs. He threw himself at walls. Not once did he utter a word, not once did he look at his friends in the eye. One rainy day, he saw his reflection in one of the diner's windows, what a horrible sight to behold, he was! While the others simply saw an agonized bear covered in brain parts and blood, desperate for a good clean-up and a warm hug, he only saw a nightmarish, dirty gold bear looking back at him with tiny, angry red eyes. He didn't have a warm smile on his face anymore –he didn't deserve to carry such an innocent expression-; he was all about pointy teeth and an evil grin, even his chubby belly filled with hungry, sharp teeth ready to chew down child after child.

When the staff arrived at the diner exactly a month after they left, they were met by a sight they didn't expect to encounter with. The inside of the diner looked like a bomb went off in there; tables, chairs and all the equipment scattered all around, if not blown to pieces. And at the very center of this chaos sat Fredbear, surrounded by the other animatronics reaching down at him. It being daytime, they were powered down; despite the staff knew the robots had free roaming on during the night, they shuddered collectively at the sight. Fredbear had torn his eyes off, his hat lay crumpled a few meters away and he seemed to have clawed at his torso badly. The other animatronics seemed a little torn as well, as if Fredbear's blows fell on them too as they tried to help him.

If they hadn't known any better, the staff would think these robots carried within themselves more than mediocre AIs. It seemed as if the six suffered almost as horribly as the poor boy himself.

Then they took up where they left off- the staff and the customers, that is. The golden duo no longer sang for children, they were left to rot in the backstage. Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy were stuck in between enjoying their newly-gained popularity and worrying for the duo.

Nevertheless, Fredbear's Diner was back in business with tastier pizza and newer animatronics that actually walked among and interacted with children. Considering one of their robotic animals had nearly bitten off a kid's head mere months ago, Fredbear's Diner was doing well.

For the time being, that was.

Mr Schmidt looked up at the saddened animatronics one by one, a pained smile on his face. They did get all the show to themselves when Fredbear and Barneybunny got decommissioned, true, but the bite was only the beginning of the horrible chain of events that had haunted the four up to this day; plus, they had lost two friends because of a bunch of human bullies that day.

Fredbear's wailing continued; the guard turned to look at the door, "I'll go open the door now." he murmured.

"Ya know it's locked, right?" Bonnie teased from where he was still hugging Chica and Foxy. Mr Schmidt pulled a bunch of keys held together by a Fazbear Entertainment keychain out of his pocket and jingled them in front of the animatronics with an amused grin. Bonnie sighed and rolled his eyes as Freddy tsked audibly.

"You don't have to watch me if you don't want to." Mr Schmidt said as he placed the right key in the lock; his hands were shaking more than usual, but he was too stubborn of an old man to confess he was afraid. Not that Fredbear would be a dangerous soul, of course, but huge traumas like this tended to be depressive.

"No!" Chica called out, "I wanna see him take you out!" Foxy cheered, waving his hook high up in the air. Mr Schmidt chuckled heartily and unlocked the door.

Now, in his 60-something years of life he had seen many surprising things, but what happened next would probably be in his top three. The door got literally blasted into pieces as an old and disrepaired bear rushed out with a low howl, the guard was long thrown onto the ground. He was prepared to wrestle with Fredbear, console him, scold him, or do anything that would help him calm the bear, but the animatronic's condition was so agonizing to see that he only managed to let out a sob. That drew Fredbear's attention, the bear with no eyes and bloodstains everywhere on his mechanic body came to a halt as he looked down at Mr Schmidt.

"Oh you poor soul..." the guard managed to whisper as a lone tear found its way on his wrinkled face.

"M-m-mist-ter Sch-Schmidt?" Fredbear said, his hushed voice matching the guard's. His voice still carried the southern accent he had when he was still around to sing for children. As if the fact that the old bear recognized the guard and uttered actual words for the first time in years wasn't surprising enough for the other animatronics, Fredbear fell on his worn knees with a loud _thunk!_. His keys and baton were long lost, but Mr Schmidt held onto his flashlight and trained it on Fredbear with shaking hands as he got to a sitting position on the ground. He reached out a hand to give the old bear a consoling touch, but the animatronic recoiled with a whimper. "It's alright, Mr Fredbear, we're here to help you." The guard's calm voice was interrupted by the bear's pained wail, "Y'all can't help me, Ah'm a monster!"

Mr Schmidt opened his mouth to speak but Chica interrupted him, "We've told you a million times, Fredbear, it wasn't your fault!" He turned to look at her, it seemed she had given up with the "gladiator fight" idea. He smiled warmly at her and joined in, "A bunch of teenagers pulling a deadly prank on a poor child isn't your or his fault, Mr Fredbear."

The old bear looked at his hands that were speckled with the blood of the long-gone child, "Ah heard he lived for a short while in a comatose state..." he whispered. He raised his head to look at Mr Schmidt, "How can y'all say it wasn't mah fault?"

"As far as I remember, Mr Fredbear, you didn't have the ability to move around much -let alone walk on your own- like these folks once had." He jerked a thumb towards the four animatronics behind him. "So there wasn't anything you could do, you were simply programmed to move in certain ways, you and Barneybunny."

Fredbear let out a pained wail again, "Oh poor Barney, he had it even worse than Ah!" He buried his face in his hands and sobbed, making Mr Schmidt marvel at the animatronics' AIs once again. There was shuffling behind the guard and Freddy slowly walked towards Fredbear to put a gentle hand on his shoulder to console him. The older bear raised his head up, looked at Freddy, then at Mr Schmidt, "You have to help Barney, Mr Schmidt!" he said, a tone of urgency present in his baritone voice, "He's in a horrible condition!"

The guard raised his eyebrows with concern, "What do you mean, Mr Fredbear? Is he here? Hurt?" He got up as fast as his old body allowed him to, "Just tell me and I'll help."

Fredbear let out a sad sigh as Freddy helped him stand, "Ah can't tell it to y'all, it's hard and agonahzin' to even think about it." he mumbled, "Y'all need to go to the old restaurant and talk to the Toys." Feeling five pairs of eyes trained on him, he seemed to deflate visibly, "He's there, but y'all need the Toys' help before y'all help him out." His shoulders sagged, "Please do as Ah say, Mr Schmidt, and take Mr Fitzgerald with you, he'll be very helpful." At the mention of the former night guard and the Toys getting together again, the four animatronics simultaneously let out a sarcastic snort, now that would be something to see!

The guard was about to ask more questions, but Fredbear interrupted him, leaning on Freddy: "They'll help y'all with anythin' y'all need, Mr Schmidt, much better than Ah can." He turned to Freddy without missing a beat, "Ah'm tired, Freddy, can you take me back?" He sounded like a helpless child and old, tired person at the same time.

Mr Fitzgerald was met by a very anxious Michael Schmidt when he unlocked the door at 6:30 am sharp; it seemed like the old man had been pacing Dining Hall for quite some time. Mr Fitzgerald eyed the night guard, "Now what happened?" he asked with a scowl.

"Good morning to you too, Mr Fitzgerald." Mr Schmidt looked up at the younger man with a cunning smile, "Nothing out of the ordinary! But I'll need you to be around tonight- I mean all night."

Mr Fitzgerald narrowed his eyes with suspicion, "Alright, first of all: You do know I work at nights, right? And secondly: Why?"

"You'll have to skip work for a night, Mr Fitzgerald, we'll go meet up with the Toys in the old restaurant."

Mt Fitzgerald let his jaw hung open as he tried to process what the old man said, "How about 'No.'?"

Mr Schmidt put his hands on his hips, a clear indication that he was about to scold his coworker, "I know how much you don't like them, but this is an emergency! I happened to meet Fredbear last night and he-"

"HE'S HERE?!"

"Lower your voice, Mr Fitzgerald, the cleaning crew will think something weird is up."

"Fredbear being around and no one talking about that isn't weird enough, then?" the younger man hissed, nudging the other's chest with a finger. "What are you up to again?"

Mr Schmidt pried Mr Fitzgerald's hand away and frowned, "He said Barneybunny is at the old place, but there was something up with him. He said we -yes, Mr Fitzgerald, he specifically mentioned your name- need to go and have a chat with the Toys before searching for our friend."

Mr Fitzgerald huffed defeatedly, "But what about your shift? And the Toys- they'll probably consider us criminals and try to kill us..."

"Remember my granddaughter Grace? She'll come take over my shift, she'd been dying to meet with these folks personally for a while anyway. And about the Toys... Have they ever seen you without your uniform? That might make them less… protective."

"I'd be worried about your granddaughter, but if she's anything like you, she'll do alright here..." Mr Fitzgerald had to accept, "And no, I always wore my uniform..." he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "That makes sense, since the killer was a guard here... We can't be sure if they'll be friendly if we go there without our uniforms, though. There isn't any chance we could skip all this, is there?" he added with a sour expression. Mr Schmidt chuckled, shaking his head. "Fine, alright." Mr Fitzgerald finally accepted his fate, "We'll change into casual clothes and grab two empty heads from the backstage as a backup plan."

"Sounds great!" the older man replied, clapping his hands with a pleased expression on his face. "That being settled, are you going to tell me more about your experiences there as the night guard?"

Mr Fitzgerald let out a sigh, "Let's leave that to the ride to the old restaurant, alright? I need some time to think about strategies and try to remember the details about that place and the Toys." He gave Mr Schmidt a strained smile.

"Oh of course, Mr Fitzgerald! I'll leave you be then, but don't worry, we'll do fine!"

All Mr Fitzgerald could think about was what the old man had gotten them into when he turned his gaze from the door Mr Schmidt left to the animatronics on the stage.

They were looking at him.

He threw his arms in the air defeatedly at their helpless expressions, "Oh fine, fine, you weirdos! I'll help the old man!"


	9. A New Accomplice

The door to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was carefully unlocked and opened at 11:15 pm; the roles being reversed this time, it was Mr Fitzgerald's turn to greet Mr Schmidt from where he was sitting at one of the long tables. He had changed into casual clothing the moment his shift was over, a rather refreshing act considering how his uniform was covered with pizza stains and whatnot as always. "Hey there, gramps." he waved at the other with a grin.

The older guard, who was also free of his uniform, walked towards the other, followed by a young, brunette woman who seemed as excited as he was.

"Good evening, Mr Fitzgerald," Mr Schmidt waved back, returning the grin, "I see you're ready for our adventure." Mr Fitzgerald rolled his eyes and snorted, this tiny old man was always so positive and happy. The older guard turned to the young woman next to him, looked up at her face, smiled and turned to look at the day guard again, "This is my granddaughter, Grace." Grace waved at Mr Fitzgerald, flashing her teeth as she smiled, "Hi, Mr Fitzgerald!"

The younger guard smiled and sighed as he got up, "I see excitement and thirst for adventure runs in the family, eh?" The other two shared a laugh as if to confirm what he had just said. "Alright then, let's get to work." Mr Fitzgerald continued as he stretched and walked towards the door with firm steps, Mr Schmidt grabbed his arm to stop him: "What's the rush, Mr Fitzgerald?" he asked with a cunning grin.

"Oh well, you know, I want to be at the other place before the Toys wake up," he jerked a finger towards the animatronics on the stage, "These guys, too."

"Ohoho, but we have to _wait_ for them to wake up, Me Fitzgerald!" Mr Schmidt clapped his hands, ignoring the fact that the young man's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He mouthed 'No.' as Mr Schmidt chuckled again, "We need to let them know-"

"They already know, gramps, they're the ones who wanted us to go to that freaky restaurant in the first place!"

"Now now, Mr Fitzgerald, calm down. You're right, but considering they'll be watching us as we explore the other place, we need to talk with them."

"What do you mean?" There it was, Mr Fitzgerald's trademark frown set on his blanched face. Grace put her backpack on one of the tables and started taking out some equipment: a laptop, its charger and two Bluetooth cameras with earpieces and microphones. Mr Fitzgerald observed them doubtfully, but Grace and Mr Schmidt looked quite confident about whatever their plan was.

"I'll watch and listen to you from here, I bet these guys can guide you through the restaurant and help you with the Toys as well." Grace explained with a smile, briefly flicking up her eyes to look at the animatronics.

Mr Fitzgerald turned to look at the older man, his jaw hung open with shock. Mr Schmidt laughed, "Yes, yes, Mr Fitzgerald, I know they're after us to kill us and all." It was clear that he found the mere idea of such a possibility ridiculous. The young man was about to snap at the other for endangering his granddaughter when he got interrupted by the sound of a series of whirs and clanks.

Needless to say, it took all his willpower not to jump out of his skin. He backed away from the animatronics who were gaining control of their bodies and slowly moved to stand behind Mr Schmidt like a scared little child seeking protection from his parents. Grace gasped excitedly but kept her ground.

Chica frowned at Mr Fitzgerald from her place on the stage, "For your information, we don't 'wake up', and we can hear everything you say."

Bonnie grinned and jumped off the stage, "So... More fresh meat for tha grindah? Ah must admit, it was gettin' boring with ya two, ya always-" His arrogant, entertained speech came to a halt since Grace had literally run towards the bunny to hug him tightly.

"Bonnie oh my god!" she exclaimed to the bunny's belly- she couldn't even reach Bonnie's chest as the robotic bunny was well over 2,5 meters. Combine that with his murderous attitude and no wonder Mr Fitzgerald looked like he was about to faint.

Bonnie would frown if he had eyebrows. He looked down at Grace as she took a step back, observing her intently. He squinted, "...Grace?" he asked, his voice tinted with doubt. The said human nodded with her ever-present excitement, flashing a huge grin ecstatically.

The next moment the bunny was bellowing a happy "GRACE!" and hugging the girl. She squealed as her feet dangled in the air, hugging him once again. The only person finding the commotion normal seemed to be Mr Schmidt- Mr Fitzgerald looked beyond surprised, Chica seemed to be sharing his feelings too.

"What're you doing, Bon?" she asked, getting off the stage to join the bunny. She crossed her arms, looking ready to bite Grace's head off.

"Hi Chica!" the girl giggled, "Oh gosh, I missed you all so much!"

"Don't ya remembah her, Chee? It's Grace!" The animatronics' memories never failed when it came to children, so of course she remembered! However...

"I don't remember you having two arms," she growled at the girl. Freddy tsked from the stage as Bonnie gasped, "Chee ya can't go and ask people why they do or don't have limbs! Ya know how fragile children ah!" He hugged Grace closer, the girl patted him in return, "It's fine, Bonnie! Look!" She moved back from the hug to take off her right arm with ease as it was a mechanical piece of wonder, "Thank the 3D printing technology!" she announced happily, holding the arm up with a grin so that the chick and the bunny could marvel at it.

Chica seemed deeply embarrassed and looked away, "Sorry..." she muttered as she played with her hands nervously. Grace put on her mechanical arm back in place to hug the chick- she was able to reach her chest since Chica was much shorter compared to Bonnie, "It's fine!" she added nonchalantly. Chica hugged her back, "I remember how some children made fun of you..." She imitated a sigh, "We kept scolding them, but some kids never learn."

Freddy finally decided to get off the stage as Bonnie pulled Chica and Grace into a group hug; the three of them were giggling non-stop while there seemed to be a stare-down between the bear and the two guards. Mr Fitzgerald would have let a tiny whimper if he weren't a grown man, so he settled on trying to make himself as small as possible behind Mr Schmidt; it was quite a funny scene considering the day guard could easily lie his head and arms on top of the old guard. The short, old man shielding his younger, bigger coworker, what a sight! Freddy couldn't help but snicker for a moment.

"So she really is your granddaughter," the bear told Mr Schmidt, "Chica mentioned how you talked to her about Grace." He tipped his hat at the old guard gracefully, the polite gesture surprising Mr Fitzgerald, "None of us thought you were actually telling the truth, to be honest."

Mr Schmidt smiled and gently patted the robotic bear's arm, the day guard behind him finally letting out the long-awaited whimper. "Understandable, Mr Freddy, you folks have been through a lot to trust adults."

There was the shuffling of curtains as Foxy peaked his head out with a curious glint in his golden eyes, "What be this commotion?" he asked, eyeing Mr Fitzgerald and Grace. The girl broke from the group hug to run to the pirate fox's stage, only to come to a halt when she noticed the 'Out of order' sign.

"Captain Foxy," she almost whined, "When did this happen?" She pointed to the sign with disbelief and impatiently waited for the pirate fox to utter an explanation as if she were a little child. Foxy smiled sadly at the girl he now remembered and crouched down- considering he was almost as tall as Bonnie, Grace still had to look up at the fox as she got even closer to the stage.

"It be a long time since Cap'n Foxy stopped cruisin' th' seven seas, matey." The girl "Aww"ed sadly in return and patted the pirate's face with a pained smile. Foxy looked at her hand -the mechanical one- with interest, "Ye have a fancy arm ther' now, matey!" he exclaimed excitedly, Grace giggled in return.

Mr Schmidt turned to close Mr Fitzgerald's jaw with one hand as he whispered, "Grace always loved Bonnie and Chica the most, but Foxy was the one she ran to whenever someone made fun of her arm." He winked, "You can guess why."

"He'd chase after her bullies with his hook." Freddy added casually, his cold-blooded violence long replaced with warm, pleasing content.

Grace and Foxy were near them moments later, talking about how she was now an official part of the Fazband as she was half robot- Grace let out a shrill giggle when she heard Foxy say that. Noticing he was the only one who hadn't officially greeted the girl, Freddy took a step towards her and stuck his hand out after tipping his hat politely- the trademark gesture of his. Grace took his hand and used it to pull Freddy towards herself, the bear was surprised enough to actually let her do that so that she could hug him tightly. Thankfully, he was just as tall as Chica (yet much chubbier than her, as he refused to admit), so it made it easier for Grace to hug him; Bonnie and Foxy were so lean, tall and muscular compared to the short, chubby and fluffy Chica and Freddy!

Grace raised her head thoughtfully after hugging Freddy for a solid minute and looked at him, "Hey Freddy?" The bear hummed to indicate he was listening. "Is it possible if I could meet Fredbear? Grandpa said so much about him and he seems like a lovely, cute bear!"

"I don't think he'd be in the mood for talking to humans," Chica interjected. "Plus, he's a little... dirty..." Bonnie added thoughtfully. Mr Schmidt gave Grace a warm smile, "Remember the bite of '87 I told you about, Grace?" She nodded. "Fredbear is still wary around us because of it as you can guess, so don't make him nervous by looking for him." The glint in his eyes indicated he was well aware that she'd do such a thing. Grace huffed, "Fiiiiine." She let Freddy go to get to her laptop, handing the headsets to Mr Schmidt and Mr Fitzgerald as she waited for the laptop to fully turn on. She sat in a chair, entered the password and looked at the two men: "I'll be able to watch whatever your cams show, listen to you and talk to you once I connect your devices and my laptop." she explained, starting with the procedure as she did so.

"Are we gonna need to hide the cams?" Mr Fitzgerald thought aloud. Mr Schmidt turned to look at the animatronics, "Would the Toys be bothered by that?"

Foxy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I dun' know, ye old kraken... Ye see, we told 'em about th' murders at a point an' they were never th' same after tha'."

"Oh." Everyone turned to look at Mr Fitzgerald, who seemed quite uncomfortable to have become the source of attention all of a sudden, "Uh... I remembered a voicemail Paul left me back when I worked at the place..." He turned to look at the older guard, "He was the day guard back then," he explained. "He was talking about how the Toys were acting aggressive towards adults but not to kids... It was his voicemail from my fourth night there, I think..." He looked up at the animatronics, "I'm guessing it was because you guys told them, then?"

"We heard tha messages ya got as well as ya did," Bonnie nodded, "And we saw all these people wit' suits during daytime... We knew they were tryin' ta uncovah tha truth behind tha murdahs."

"You'd be surprised how much we saw though we were locked in the backstage," Chica said sadly, "We learned to be patient and listen, but the Toys were different… They wanted answers and they kept forcing us to answer their questions."

"It may be in their programming to be so nosey when it comes to crime-related issues," Freddy added thoughtfully, "We were programmed to watch and learn, they were, well..."

"They be the protective 'uns," Foxy helped him out, "They c'n learn an' process, but hey be too focus'd on searchin' fer criminals."

"Come to think on it, there was this period of time where they became too aggressive to handle." Freddy said, thinking on all those years back, "I wonder if they found out something we didn't- or don't know..."

"You think they know who and where the murderer is?" Chica asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise, "And they never told us?" She balled her hands into angry fists, "Oh I'm so going to dismantle them if I ever get my hands on them!" Foxy and Bonnie nodded vigorously.

"Y'all'd better not do that." There, in the doorway to the backstage stood none other than he tattered form of Fredbear. Mr Fitzgerald paled visibly, "O-oh... Uh... Right... Apparently someone broke down the backstage door, so uh… we-we had to cover it with some plastic curtains."

"So many li'l kids would've been scarred for lahf if they got in there, Mr Fitzgerald," Fredbear said, not moving closer as if he was worried he'd scare them all off.

Mr Fitzgerald gulped down the nervous lump in his throat, "I suggested closing down for a while to fix it, but the owners are simply hungry for the money they make off this place, so we had to go with a more… practical solution."

"Y'all're right." the golden bear replied, taking a step towards them and making Grace gasp with curiosity, "But it was still dangerous."

"Let's face it Fredbear, it's not as if you'd hurt a kid if they happened to get into the backstage." The old bear seemed to flinch ever so slightly at the day guard's words, "Gramps here told me about you, but we all know you'd never intentionally hurt a kid."

Chica looked at Mr Fitzgerald with an amused grin despite the gravity of the talk taking place, "Is it me or do you actually like us?" The young guard shrugged, "You're cool when you're not trying to hunt me down, I guess." he said as nonchalantly as he could. Mr Schmidt leaned towards Freddy and whispered to him in a way everyone in the room could hear him with ease, "He told me you were his favorite when he was a kid, Mr Freddy." The brown bear raised an amused eyebrow as the day guard let out an annoyed "Hey!"

Fredbear gently cleared his throat, drawing the attention on himself once again, "Sorry t' interrupt y'all, but y'all need all the tahm y'all have." He turned to Chica, "Our human friends will need th' Toys, they're the guide to Barney and... much more..." he added darkly. Chica huffed and crossed her arms: "Fine."

The golden bear gently walked towards Grace after giving Chica a small smile (to the animatronics' surprise); for the first time in the past thirty years, Fredbear seemed calm and collected. He looked at the girl, "So y'all're Mr Schmidt's granddaughter... We never met, but Ah knew your parents." He seemed to remember nice events from when he was still the star of the show for once. Grace smiled and put a hand on Fredbear's forearm, he seemed much taller and chubbier than Freddy, "Hi Fredbear!" she said with a smile, "Pleasure to meet you!"

It seemed this young woman had become the link between the humans and animatronics, and even the link between the 'bots and the horrible pasts they so wished they could forget. Mr Fitzgerald broke this precious moment of bonding to cough and check his watch; he turned to Mr Schmidt, "It's almost 1, gramps, we'd better get going." The older guard nodded excitedly and gave Grace a quick hug before walking to the door along with the day guard; he turned to look at the animatronics before he headed out, "Do care for her, will you?" he asked them, "Grace is so precious and dear to me."

As they looked after the two guards, it was clear that the five animatronics didn't actually need Mr Schmidt's explanation to protect Grace; she was their savior in a way, and more importantly, a child they held dear to their mechanical hearts.

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 **(AN: Heyoo! Anyone called for hugs and giggles? Also, I added a link on my profile to some totally-not-crappy doodles I drew of my take on the animatronics in case you want to check. I've been thinking more and more about how they look and act, so I'll be adding more details as I go on!)**


	10. What's in the Box?

Mr Schmidt buckled his seatbelt and looked around as the car came alive in Mr Fitzgerald's hands. It wasn't the best or the newest, but it was clean and fit for a family; Mr Schmidt hummed and nodded approvingly at the younger guard's tidiness.

As they starting driving on the main road, the old man looked up at the other, "So..."

Mr Fitzgerald grumbled and frowned, "You haven't gotten any less curious, have you gramps?" Mr Schmidt chuckled in response. "Fine then..." the young man gave up, "I'll summarize the rest of my week and tell you more about the toys as I do so, so that you know what we'll see when we get there." Mr Schmidt nodded with curiosity.

"On the third night, Paul warned me against The Mangle and how she went from 'the take apart and put back together attraction' to 'just a mess of parts'. At least that was how Paul described the situation, I wasn't there when she was actually fully functioning, nor when she got so messed up." Mr Fitzgerald turned to look at his coworker with a dark expression on his face. "It seems she was so... well, mangled, that it affected her sanity..." He sighed, rolling his eyes, "She emitted this unnerving static whenever she was around- I mean that was very helpful in finding out where she was, but it was also so annoying..." He glanced at Mr Schmidt as he took a turn, "She seemed to have gotten a second head as well," he frowned in thought as the older man raised an eyebrow, "I'm guessing it was a part of the whole 'let's make a crippled chaos out of this poor animatronic' thing- yes, I say 'poor' because even I'm aware that that's just so mean." Mr Schmidt stopped chuckling and nodded in agreement. "Then Paul warned me not to believe any rumors, just out of the blue like that; I can see his point though, I mean, it's Freddy's after all." He shrugged. "And I survived the third night, I call it a miracle considering I dealt with ten murderous robots that got increasingly aggressive."

"Then there I was at the pizzeria for my fourth night, asking myself why on earth I kept doing it." He chuckled dryly, "I was a teenager after all, and a very curious one."

"You're saying that as if you're not curious about all this now, Mr Fitzgerald." the older man interrupted him with an amused glint in his eyes, "And don't tell me you're doing this because of me, because it's easy to see how stubborn you are; I couldn't have brought you with me unless you wanted to."

Mr Fitzgerald grumbled, "You're gonna let me continue or what, gramps?" He got an entertained chuckle in response.

"Anyways, Paul told me about an investigation going on and warned me not to look at the animatronics in the eye. I couldn't understand how or why back then, I mean, how could I not look at them in the eye when they were taunting me while standing right in my face?" He threw his hands in the air, "And I understood what that was about tonight when the 'bots told us about what went on on their side." He sighed, breath rocking his whole body involuntarily, "That night was hellish... They were always near me as if they knew the whole Freddy head thing was just an act; they were getting more and more aggressive, too. I'd lost count of how many times Bonnie, Chica and Toy Bonnie got in my face by the time my shift was over; I was really surprised how I managed to keep Marionette in his box as well..." He looked at Mr Schmidt and laughed, "Pretty sure my parents would've had a heart attack or something if I had told them about all that, they were worried enough because I worked at the pizzeria anyway."

Mr Schmidt smiled and shook his head, "Wouldn't you be worried if Felicity were in your situation?" Mr Fitzgerald shuddered yet kept up with his nonchalant act, "You're telling me, but I don't see you getting worried about Grace here."

"Psh! Why would I? The originals are absolutely harmless." The day guard snorted, "Yeah right, whatever you say, old man."

"The fifth night's message was even more cryptic, Paul said the pizzeria was in lockdown- you know, no one in, no one out- and mentioned the diner. He also mentioned moving me to day shift, but I was a bit too busy defending my sorry butt to get excited about that or even question why I was there if there was a lockdown." Mr Schmidt could almost taste the sarcasm in Mr Fitzgerald's words.

"And then came the sixth night..."

When the phone on the desk rang like it did every night before thatone, Jeremy was already busy fending off the animatronics. He could hear Balloon Boy's ridiculously happy laugh nearby, Mangle was emitting static in the vent to his right (though not yet seen at the end of it), Foxy was at the end of the corridor and Marionette's music box awfully needed to get wound up. Add to all this the other animatronics scattered around the building and the youngster was already on the verge of a breakdown.

"Hello, hello? What on earth are you doing there, didn't you get the memo? Uh... the place is closed down, at least for a while." Jeremy frowned at the phone, unable to believe what he was hearing. Closed? Then why was he here? He was sure he didn't get any memos- come to think of it, he was quite sure there wasn't one. This didn't make any sense. "Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it..." The young guard muttered a "What..." as he wound up the music box once again, yellow suit? In the back? He knew he didn't see any yellow suits back there. "Now none of them are acting right." As if on cue, Chica was standing right across the desk when he raised his head from the laptop, Jeremy put on the Freddy head to try to trick her to no avail. She reached for him with a low growl, jaw broken and hands ripped off; the youngster rolled his chair backwards with a whimper until it hit the wall behind him. "Listen j-just finish your shift, it's safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night." There was shuffling in the right vent and Chica left hurriedly, but Jeremy was too shocked at what the guy on the phone had just said to take it off. It was actually better as Toy Bonnie glided into his view in no more then ten seconds. "Uh we have one more event scheduled for tomorrow, a birthday. You'll be on day shift, wear your uniform, stay close to the animatronics, make sure they don't hurt anyone okay? For now just make it through the night, uh... when the place eventually opens again I'll probably take the night shift myself. Okay, good night and good luck."

"That doesn't make any sense." Mr Schmidt said, his forehead wrinkled (more so than usual) in confusion.

"I know," Mr Fitzgerald replied, "There weren't any golden suits in the backstage when I got in to check again, only the original guys..." He shuddered. "I'm guessing Paul was referring to the murders when he mentioned that, but that was years ago! There wasn't even a theft attempt at that place, let alone murders..."

"I can see why the toys started acting odd, considering the originals told them about he murders; but a golden suit triggering them, worn by our killer? That doesn't make any sense..."

"I guess we'll uncover the truth soon," Mr Fitzgerald said as the car came to a halt. He took a deep, shaky breath, "We're here, gramps."

* * *

"And that's how you play games on Steam." Grace finished the tiny lecture she was giving to her robotic friends.

"So, what's your favorite game?" Bonnie asked, deeply interested in the concept of video games.

"Oh, I like horror!" the girl replied excitedly, "You know, the kind you get stuck in places and have to defend yourself against monsters!"

"Nice!" came Chica's bellow as the chick high fived Grace, the girl giggling all the while.

"Be ther' any adventurous games ther', matey?" came Foxy's unsure voice as he leaned in to observe the laptop's screen.

"Oh yeah! There are lots of FPS games that are full of adventure, Captain Foxy!"

"What... exactly is an FPS?" It was Freddy, he sounded so clueless it was actually cute.

Grace turned to look up at him as she took a bite from the fresh pizza Chica cooked, "First person shooter." Seeing the bear was no less confused, she moved on to explain, "Basically you see the world through the eyes of your character and get to shoot stuff!"

Freddy scoffed at the idea of shooting people as Chica cheered, "That's so cool! Can we play that some time?"

"Of course! I can launch one now actually, grandpa and Mr Fitzgerald aren't at the other place yet anyway. So I think I'll go with-"

 _Ring! Ring ring!_

"Oh! " Grace exclaimed, quickly getting up, "That must be the phone guy grandpa mentioned!" She made a run for the security office down West Hall before the others could stop her. The animatronics uncomfortably exchanged glances, it was no secret they killed security guards, but the fourth night's recording was a bit... messy.

Grace got in the office, panting a little and no less excited. Remembering what her grandfather said, she didn't touch the phone and waited for the message to start playing.

"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, day four... I knew you could do it! Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow." There was a loud, mean banging on what sounded like something made of metal; Grace looked up at the metal doors that were currently open. "It's- It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you..." Grace watched the phone worriedly as the previous night guard cleared his throat nervously, this sounded nothing like the happy, friendly man her grandfather talked about; he sounded so scared and troubled. "Uh, when I did... Uh, hey, do me a favor." There it was again, the loud banging on the metal doors; Grace wondered if it was the animatronics who caused so much trouble. As much as she could see the logic behind their actions, she was worried about the man on the phone.

"Maybe sometime, uh... You could check inside those suits in the back room?" Grace furrowed her brows, did he think he was about to die? Was he simply curious? It sounded awfully like he was sure he was about to die. The loud banging never seemed to cease in the background. "I'm gonna try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad." Grace shuddered at the gravity of what he had just said; the animatronics were cute and smart, but it was clear that she wouldn't want to be on their bad side.

The banging made her flinch a little this time, "Uh, I- I- I- I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there." The man's voice had started trembling and he was stuttering more than he did before; Grace sat at the edge of her chair and held onto its arms, her fingers white and her prosthetic hand giving a dangerous whir and creak because of pressure.

There was silence as a happy, innocent version of Toreador March played, then the man's tiny voice was heard: "You know-" he was interrupted as a chilling moan was heard, who was its source? The girl could feel chills run down her spine as the man on the phone let out a strained "Oh no..."

There was a loud, irritating screech before the sound of static filled the room. Grace looked at the phone with wide eyes even after the message stopped at playing, her face paling visibly.

There was a gentle knock on the window to her left that nearly made her jump out of her skin, Grace turned around with a tiny yelp to see Fredbear standing at the door. It was scary, how dirty, old, bloody and even rusty he looked; although she knew she and the animatronics were on good terms with each other, she could see what the man on the phone saw in them the night he was murdered.

"That recordin' didn't scare y'all, did it?" the golden bear asked with a soft voice. He couldn't help but flinch when he saw the girl's fast-paced breathing and blanched face, he sighed sadly. "Th' others tend to get violent when it comes to the guards..." He took his hat off and held it between his hands in front of his chest apologetically, "Ah'm not the one to talk, of course, but the things they saw made 'em... sensitive. And violent, for sure."

Grace gulped, "I know, Fredbear, but that was... graphic." she managed to say when she found her voice. She got up and grabbed the flashlight on the desk with trembling hands. It took all her willpower to walk up to Fredbear and get past him with a polite "Excuse me." She might love the robotic animals and be a sucker for the horror genre, but the fact that these cute 'bots were the source of actual, real life horrors had scared her more than she'd expected. However, considering the fact that her only source of light was the flashlight in her hands and there was a bloodied, animate bear at her heels, she was proud to admit that she was taking this pretty well.

Grace got in Dining Hall and walked towards the backstage without missing a beat, only pausing at the door covered with the plastic curtains for a brief moment. She could hear her breathe hitch as she shone her light onto the exoskeleton heads and bodies in there. The one sitting on the table in a slumped way being the obvious possibility, she paced through the room towards it with unsure steps. One trembling hand reached for the head to take it off as the other tried really hard to hold a firm grasp on the flashlight it was holding. She slowly moved the head upwards, it wasn't as easy and smooth as she had hoped with one hand.

"They got him out of there a long time ago." Freddy's polite voice called from behind her.

The horrified scream coming from the backstage caught the others in Dining Hall off guard; there was the sound of loud thumping of robotic feet as they made a run for where Grace and Freddy were.

Grace held her chest with one hand as if to try to calm her heart, "I'm- I'm fine, just got..." She looked up at Freddy with an annoyed expression and waggled a finger at him that was reminiscent of Mr Schmidt, "Freddy, why would you sneak up on me like that, you mean bear!"

The brown bear tipped his hat in an embarrassed manner, "I didn't want you to get any more anxious than you already are."

"Ya seem ta have failed at that, Freddy." Bonnie said from where he stood near the door with Chica.

"And more importantly, you didn't call us to help us scare her!" the chick said, followed by Foxy nudging her, "Ow! What? Ugh fine... Freddy, don't go scaring her like that."

"Especially not after th' li'l matey list'n'd t' th' recordin'."

Freddy was about to say something to defend himself when Grace's cellphone rang, taking away the stress and annoyance hung in the air.

"It's fine, guys." the girl said as she brushed past them into Dining Hall, "Just give me some space and let me calm down, alright?" The animatronics nodded shyly as she answered the phone, "Hey grandpa! Got there alright?"

"Yes, dear!" Mr Schmidt replied, looking at the abandoned building. Mr Fitzgerald stood next to him, scoffing with his hands on his hips.

"Cool! You two turn on your cams for me, 'kay?" Grace said excitedly as she got back to her laptop and logged in.

Two minutes of struggling later, Grace and the animatronics had the visuals from the two men's cams in addition to being able to communicate without needing their phones. The animatronics huddled together around Grace as they watched the guards walk towards the double doors of the pizzeria. Bonnie imitated a whistle, "Tha place's sure gotten ruined."

"Eh." Chica shrugged, "That's what they- it deserves."

Six pairs of eyes watched the two brave guards as they carefully snuck into the building, unlocking the door in mere seconds. Mr Fitzgerald motioned Mr Schmidt to follow him as silently as possible and have the empty head around just in case; the design of the building forced them to walk past the three animatronics on the stage after all. Mr Fitzgerald got to the other side of the room in big steps, using his height advantage; Mr Schmidt, on the other hand, wasn't that lucky. He was short and old, which meant he was much slower than the day guard- plus, trouble seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

That was what crossed Mr Fitzgerald's mind when the three on the stage suddenly came alive, their limbs cracking and creaking from years of disrepair and rust.

"H- h- he- heya k- k- kids!" Toy Freddy called out, waving at the unseen audience. His voice lacked the uniqueness of Freddy and Fredbear, albeit just as deep, "W- w- welc- c- come to F-Freddy F- Fazbear's P- P- Pizzeria!"

"Oh wow..." Grace whispered as she watched the commotion through the guards' cameras. Chica crossed her arms, "They look even uglier!"

Unlike the furry look the originals had, the Toys looked as if they were made of porcelain; a close inspection showed that that wasn't a far fetched guess, as they had cracks all over their bodies.

"They look like they've been thrown onto things... Or like things have been thrown onto them..." Grace stated as Toy Chica waved her cupcake with an agonizing creaking sound. "W- w- w- we hope y- you have a niiiiiiiii- ice -ice -ice time here!"

Mr Fitzgerald frantically motioned Mr Schmidt to follow him, but the old man was simply too surprised to move.

"D- d- don't forget t- t- to taste our- our- our delicious p- p- pizza!" Toy Bonnie joined in, his once bright green eyes now dulled and dusty.

And with that, as if someone had snapped their finger, the animatronics' attitude changed. Toy Freddy turned to look at the older guard with cold eyes, "Y- y- you're not a ch- ch- child." He said matter-of-factly, "An- an- any adult without a- a- a child of their o- own must l- l- l- leave the p- premises. A- a- anyone m-must leave th- the premises aft- after midnight!"

The three broken animatronics were looking at the humans with cold, dead eyes now; Toy Bonnie dropped his guitar with a loud bang as he took a step towards Mr Schmidt, looking ready to tear his head off. Mr Fitzgerald grabbed his arm hurriedly and dragged him down the corridor, into the security office he knew too well.

"Th' uniferm idea didn' work well then, did it?" Foxy called sadly. The guards were stuck in the office until they figured out how to communicate with the animatronics- or until the morning if they managed to stay alive.

"At least you don't have us hunting you down." Freddy said in an innocent attempt to see the bright side of the situation. As Mr Schmidt shone his flashlight onto the vents and at the corridor, Mr Fitzgerald snorted, "Gee, Freddy, that's very thoughtful of you! Now we only have six murderous freaks after us- oh crap." There was a brief silence as the elderly guard turned to look at him, the day guard gulped down the nervous lump in his throat. "We need to wind the music box..." he whispered, "But we need electricity so that we can use the laptop here to wind it remotely..."

"And the place hasn't had electricity for years now." Chica finished the sentence. Freddy cleared his throat, "Well, that looks troublesome."

Mr Fitzgerald frantically thought what they could do as his eyes darted around the room and finally settled on the right vent.

"What are you doing, Mr Fitzgera- ooohh." Mr Schmidt flickered the flashlight at Toy Chica at the end of the corridor, "Are you sure?" Mr Fitzgerald nodded quickly, his face pale and his forehead sweaty.

"What's he gonna do?" Bonnie asked, leaning in.

"He'll go through the vent and go to Marionette's room to wind the music box manually." Freddy replied worriedly, "Be careful, Mr Fitzgerald, you know Toy Foxy likes to be around there."

The day guard grunted in response and waved Mt Schmidt goodbye, "Try to get my body along with you when you leave in the morning, alright gramps?"

"Shh Mr Fitzgerald, you'll do fine!" With another grunt, the younger man had disappeared in the vents.

"I sure hope he doesn't encounter anyone while he's in there." Chica said ominously.

"The coast looks clear," Grace replied as she watched what Mr Fitzgerald's camera showed them.

Mr Schmidt walked back and sat in the office chair, putting on the Foxy head he had brought with him since Balloon Boy seemed to be at the end of the vent. Illuminating the corridor he saw Toy Freddy, "C- c- c- come out wherever you- you- you are, murd- murd- murderer!"

That sounded awfully like what Freddy had called him.

"Ooohhh boy." came Chica's voice, "They've actually gotten smarter."

"Yeh, I rememb'r tellin' 'em about th' murderer but they nev'r react'd like this!" Foxy joined in.

"Well, they had years ta think on it." Bonnie replied, crossing his arms on his chest.

Something was off and all of them were well aware of it.

"Crap!" came the yelp from Mr Fitzgerald's side and all the attention was on his camera feed now.

"Are you alright, Mr Fitzgerald?" Mr Schmidt asked as he finally took of the head.

"Marionette... He's- he's gone!"

"You mean he left his box?"

"That's the weird part, the box was closed and by the looks of its appendage, it hasn't been wound up for quite some time."

"So be he cruisin' the pizz'ria fer years, ye say?"

"I'm not sure," mumbled the young guard as he carefully looked around, "He would've attacked us already."

"3 am." Grace announced, stifling a yawn, "Hang in there, guys!"

Mr Fitzgerald hurriedly ducked next to the music box when he noticed Toy Bonnie lumbering past the stage, "He's coming for you, gramps!"

"Bring it on!", followed by a chuckle was the reply. The day guard rolled his eyes and seeing no one was around, slowly got up, "I'll try to see where Marionette is." There was silence on all ends of the conversation.

"He'll kill you if he sees you." Freddy said, finding the young man's decision incredulous.

"He'll kill both of us if he's around and aware of our presence anyway, Freddy. I can at least explore while gramps keeps them distracted."

"Be careful, Mr Fitzgerald." the elderly guard uttered, sounding genuinely worried.

The young man darted and made a run through the open area into Main Hall. He could see Toy Chica looking at a torn poster on the wall at the end of the corridor; using the fact that her back was turned to him to his advantage, he quickly and quietly got into men's bathroom.

Mr Schmidt put on the Foxy head to trick Toy Bonnie who glided into his view. Static came through the vent, so he waited a little longer like that until Mangle left.

"4 am." came Grace's voice, never in their existence had the original animatronics wished 6 am came as soon as possible.

Toy Chica finally left the hall. "She's gone," Chica called out, distaste for her counterpart obvious in her voice. Mr Fitzgerald got out, checked if anyone was there and ran down the hall and into backstage.

Mr Schmidt moved to flicker his flashlight down the corridor since he had heard some shuffling a moment ago, but the batteries died before he could see who was there. He quickly dashed under the table, grabbed one of the backpacks they had brought with them and searched it for batteries. There was more shuffling in the darkness and thumping in the vents to his left, an innocent laugh was heard. It sure was hard to find the batteries in pitch dark, Mr Schmidt decided as Grace gasped nervously.

The backstage was empty, "Absolutely nothing!" the day guard grumbled.

"What did ya expect, man, marionette sittin' and waitin' for ya?" Bonnie teased, Chica and Foxy snickering next to him.

"Well I at least expected to find... something... I don't know, but-"

 _Thump_.

Mr Fitzgerald raised his head and looked around.

 _Thump thump_.

Mr Schmidt hurriedly put new batteries in the flashlight and illuminated Toy Freddy standing right across his desk.

 _Thump_.

"5 am." Freddy announced. Mr Fitzgerald leaned out of the backstage door to see where the noise was coming from. Mr Schmidt quickly put on the Foxy head to fend off Balloon Boy and Toy Freddy.

 _Thump thump thump_.

The day guard got out and hesitantly grabbed the doorknob to Parts and Services. The animatronics left the night guard alone. Mr Schmidt heard static once again, louder this time; he raised his head to look at the ceiling.

 _THUMP._

 _THUMP._

 _THUMP._

Mr Fitzgerald located the source of the sound and took a wary step towards it.

 _Thump_.

Mr Schmidt readied his baton in case the mangled form of Toy Foxy dangling above him decided to make a move.

 _THUMP_.

Mr Fitzgerald looked at the chest before him, it had two locks on it that managed to keep its resident in so far; that was about to change very soon, however.

 _Thump thump_.

Mangle opened her jaw threateningly, Mr Schmidt was well aware of the fact that both vents contained animatronics at the moment.

 _THUMP THU- CRACK_!

Mr Fitzgerald let out a terrified yelp as the long, thin and very angry form of Marionette leaped out of the chest and onto him.

"You..." it hissed, "You locked me in there to commit your vile acts easily! I'm going to tear you in pieces!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO!" the day guard screamed, "WE'RE HERE TO HELP!"

Balloon Boy was giggling joyously in the security office and Toy Bonnie was already climbing out of the right vent, but Mr Schmidt was occupying himself with having a stare-down with the broken fox above him.

"We?" Marionette growled, briefly stopping strangling the day guard. "YOU BROUGHT MORE PERVERTS LIKE YOU ALONG WITH YOU THIS TIME?!"

It grabbed Mr Fitzgerald's neck once again, harder this time.

Mangle leaned towards Mr Schmidt, letting out a mixture of a screech and static.

Grace called out for her grandfather, wishing she could do anything to help him.

Then everything stopped.

Grace's phone's alarm went off, indicating it was 6 am.

* * *

When the two guards got back to the new pizzeria, it was already past 7:30; Grace welcomed them with tears in her eyes and brought them some food and water, she had dark circles under her eyes thanks to sleep deprivation and stress.

"That was such a close call." Mr Schmidt sighed as he hugged his granddaughter for the umpteenth time.

"I know." the other man replied, gingerly touching the bruises on his neck, "What are we going to do now, gramps?"

All they could do was to sit and think in silence as the cleaning crew carried the animatronics (who got powered down right next to Grace when the clock struck 6) onto their places.

"Wait..." the day guard said, suddenly alert, "Where's Fredbear?"

"He walked into the backstage before people arrived," Grace explained, looking as confused as the other two were. "I don't know how that was even possible."

"I'll... I'll go check him," Mr Fitzgerald said as he got up with a groan, he must have hit the floor pretty hard.

"Fredbear?" the day guard called out as he got past the plastic curtains, afraid the staff would hear him. There was some shuffling and Fredbear looked at him from behind a bunch of boxes, "Howdy, Mr Fitzgerald."

"How are you even awake?"

"We don' really fall asleep, we jus' power down t' let the day script rule us." He held his hat between his hands, "And y'all know Ah don' really have a day script."

"You mean to tell me you've been fully in control over yourself during the day for years?!" the young man asked as he rubbed his temples.

"Ah hadn't felt the need t' do so for years, Mr Fitzgerald, Ah was in too much pain and Ah lacked a purpose... So, no, Ah wasn't really around durin' the day..."

The day guard nodded understandingly and sat on the table next to the empty exoskeleton, letting out a sigh that rocked his whole body. He looked up at the golden bear defeatedly, "We couldn't do it, Fredbear, we couldn't even talk to them; on the contrary, we nearly died there." He buried his face in his hands and groaned desperately, "What are we gonna do now?"

Fredbear walked towards Mr Fitzgerald and put a kind hand on his shoulder. "Don' worry, Mr Fitzgerald." the golden bear said softly, "Tomorrow is another day."


End file.
